U.S. patent application number 09/261972 was filed with the patent office on 2002-06-06 for temperature measuring method and apparatus, measuring mehtod for the thickness of the formed film, measuring apparatus for the thickness of the formed film thermometer for wafers.
Invention is credited to AKAMA, YOSHIAKI, INO, TOMOMI, SOGA, AKIRA.
Application Number | 20020066859 09/261972 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 27524284 |
Filed Date | 2002-06-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020066859 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
INO, TOMOMI ; et
al. |
June 6, 2002 |
TEMPERATURE MEASURING METHOD AND APPARATUS, MEASURING MEHTOD FOR
THE THICKNESS OF THE FORMED FILM, MEASURING APPARATUS FOR THE
THICKNESS OF THE FORMED FILM THERMOMETER FOR WAFERS
Abstract
A temperature measuring apparatus, comprises a light splitting
section for splitting the light radiated from a substrate into
plural light components having wavelengths over a predetermined
wavelength region, a detection section for detecting the
intensities of the light components obtained by the light splitting
section, an integrated value calculating section for calculating an
integrated value of radiation intensity by cumulatively adding the
intensities of the light components detected by the detecting
section, and a surface temperature calculating section for
calculating the surface temperature of the substrate from the
integrated value, on the basis of reference data representing the
relation between the temperature and the integrated value.
Inventors: |
INO, TOMOMI; (YOKOHAMA-SHI,
JP) ; SOGA, AKIRA; (YOKOHAMA-SHI, JP) ; AKAMA,
YOSHIAKI; (TOKYO, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
FINNEGAN, HENDERSON, FARABOW, GARRETT &
DUNNER LLP
1300 I STREET, NW
WASHINGTON
DC
20005
US
|
Family ID: |
27524284 |
Appl. No.: |
09/261972 |
Filed: |
March 3, 1999 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
250/339.04 ;
374/121; 438/14 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G01J 5/0003
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
250/339.04 ;
438/14; 374/121 |
International
Class: |
G01J 005/02; H01L
021/66; G01R 031/26 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 19, 1998 |
JP |
10-070812 |
Sep 17, 1998 |
JP |
10-262894 |
Sep 29, 1998 |
JP |
10-275350 |
Oct 22, 1998 |
JP |
10-301108 |
Dec 18, 1998 |
JP |
10-360713 |
Claims
1. A temperature measuring method, comprising the steps of:
detecting an intensity of light radiated from an object and an
intensity of light reflected from said object when the object is
illuminated with light; determining a reflectivity of the object
from the intensity of the reflected light and a reference intensity
for the reflected light; and determining the temperature of the
object from an emissivity obtained from the reflectivity of the
object and the intensity of the light radiated from the object.
2. A temperature measuring method, comprising the steps of:
detecting an intensity of light radiated from an object, an
intensity of light reflected from the object when the object is
illuminated with light, and an intensity of light transmitted
through the object when the object is illuminated with light;
determining a reflectivity of the object from the intensity of the
reflected light and a reference intensity for the reflected light;
determining a transmittance of the object from the intensity of the
transmitted light and a reference intensity for the transmitted
light; and determining the temperature of the object from the
reflectivity and from an emissivity obtained from the transmittance
of the object and the intensity of the light radiated from the
object.
3. A temperature measuring apparatus, comprising: first intensity
detecting means for detecting an intensity of light radiated from
an object; second intensity detecting means for detecting an
intensity of light reflected from the object when the object is
illuminated with light; reflectivity calculating means for
calculating a reflectivity of the object from the intensity of the
reflected light detected by said second intensity detecting means,
and from a reference intensity for the reflected light; and
temperature calculating means for calculating a temperature of the
object from an emissivity obtained from the reflectivity calculated
by said reflectivity calculating means and the intensity of the
radiated light detected by said first intensity detecting
means.
4. A temperature measuring apparatus, comprising: first intensity
detecting means for detecting an intensity of light radiated from
an object; second intensity detecting means for detecting an
intensity of light reflected from the object when the object is
illuminated with light; third intensity detecting means for
detecting an intensity of light transmitted through the object when
the object is illuminated with light; reflectivity calculating
means for calculating the reflectivity of the object from the
intensity of the reflected light detected by the second intensity
detecting means and a reference intensity for the reflected light;
transmittance calculating means for calculating a transmittance of
the object from the intensity of the transmitted light detected by
the third intensity detecting means and a reference intensity for
the transmitted light; and temperature calculating means for
calculating a temperature of the object from the reflectivity
calculated by the reflectivity calculating means, an emissivity
obtained from the transmittance calculated by the transmittance
calculating means, and the intensity of the radiated light detected
by the first intensity detecting means.
5. A temperature measuring apparatus, comprising: a light source,
light transmitting means for transmitting light radiated from said
light source to a surface of an object and for transmitting light
reflected from and radiated from the object; switching means
designed to apply the light radiated from the light source and to
stop applying the light radiated from the light source; intensity
calculating means for alternately receiving light reflected from,
and light radiated from, the object, both being transmitted by said
light transmitting means in synchronism with the operation of said
switching means, thereby to calculate an intensity of the reflected
light and an intensity of the radiated light; reflectivity
calculating means for calculating an reflectivity of the object
from the intensity of the reflected light calculated by said
intensity calculating means and a reference intensity for the
reflected light; and temperature calculating means for calculating
a temperature of the object from an emissivity determined from the
reflectivity obtained by the reflectivity calculating means and the
intensity of the radiated light calculated by said light intensity
calculating means.
6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein interference filters
capable of transmitting only light components having predetermined
wavelengths are arranged on the optical paths of the light radiated
from the light source, and the light beams reflected and radiated
from the object.
7. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a spectroscope is
provided which splits only a light component having a predetermined
wavelength, which is selected from among the light radiated from
the light source and the light beams radiated and reflected from
the object.
8. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said light source
radiates light having a spectrum substantially equal to that of the
light radiated from the object.
9. A temperature measuring apparatus, comprising: a light source;
intensity calculating means for alternately receiving light
reflected from, and light radiated from, the object, both being
transmitted by said light transmitting means in synchronism with
the operation of said switching means, thereby to calculate an
intensity of the reflected light and an intensity of the radiated
light; transmitted light intensity calculating means for receiving
light transmitted through the object in synchronism with the
operation of said switching means, thereby to calculate an
intensity of the transmitted light; reflectivity calculating means
for calculating a reflectivity of the object from the intensity of
the reflected light calculated by said intensity calculating means
and a reference intensity for the reflected light; transmittance
calculating means for calculating a transmittance of the object
from the intensity of transmitted light calculated by said
transmitted light intensity calculating means and a reference
intensity for the transmitted light; and temperature calculating
means for calculating a temperature of the object from the
emissivity determined from the reflectivity obtained by the
reflectivity calculating means and from the transmittance
calculated by said transmittance calculating means and the
intensity of the radiated light calculated by said intensity
calculating means.
10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein interference
filters capable of transmitting only light components having
predetermined wavelengths are arranged on optical paths of the
light radiated from the light source and on optical paths of light
beams reflected and radiated from the object.
11. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein a spectroscope is
provided which splits only a light component having a predetermined
wavelength, which is selected from among the light radiated from
the light source and the light beams radiated and reflected from
the object.
12. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said light source
radiates light having a spectrum substantially equal to that of the
light radiated from the object.
13. A temperature measuring method comprising: a step of splitting
light radiated from a substrate into plural light components having
wavelengths ranging over a predetermined wavelength region; a step
of detecting intensity of each of the light components obtained in
said light splitting step; a step of calculating an integrated
value of radiation intensity by cumulatively adding the intensities
of said light components, detected in said detecting step; and a
step of calculating a surface temperature of said substrate from
said integrated value and preset reference data representing a
relation between the temperature and the integrated value.
14. A temperature measuring apparatus comprising: a light splitting
section for splitting light radiated from a substrate into plural
light components having wavelength ranging over a predetermined
wavelength region; a detection section for detecting the intensity
of each of the light components obtained by said light splitting
section; an integrated value calculating section for calculating an
integrated value of radiation intensity by cumulatively adding the
intensities of the light components, detected by said detecting
section; and a surface temperature calculating section for
calculating a surface temperature of the substrate from said
integrated value and preset reference date representing a relation
between the temperature and the integrated value.
15. A film thickness measuring method for measuring a thickness of
an uppermost film being formed on a substrate, said method
comprising: a step of actually measuring an intensity distribution
of light radiated from said substrate; a step of calculating a
relative intensity distribution of the radiated light, which is a
ratio of the actually measured intensity distribution of the
radiated light to a reference intensity distribution obtained for
the radiated light on the basis of the light radiated from the
substrate before initiation of the film formation; and a step of
calculating the thickness of the film by comparing a theoretical
intensity distribution of the radiated light, derived from
transmitted light theory, with said relative intensity distribution
of the radiated light.
16. The method according to claim 15, wherein said comparison
between the theoretical intensity distribution and the relative
intensity distribution is performed by waveform matching.
17. The method according to claim 15, wherein said comparison
between the theoretical intensity distribution and the relative
intensity distribution is performed on the basis of a maximum
wavelength shift which the relative intensity distribution has with
respect to the theoretical intensity distribution.
18. A film thickness measuring apparatus for measuring a thickness
of an uppermost film being formed on a substrate, said method
comprising: an intensity distribution measuring section for
actually measuring an intensity distribution of radiated light on
the basis of light radiated from the substrate; a relative
intensity distribution calculating section for calculating a
relative intensity distribution of radiated light, which is a ratio
of the actually measured intensity distribution of the radiated
light to a reference intensity distribution obtained on the basis
of light radiated from the substrate before initiation of the film
formation; and a film thickness calculating section for calculating
a thickness of the film by comparing the theoretical intensity
distribution of the radiated light derived from transmitted light
theory with the relative intensity distribution of the radiated
light.
19. A film thickness measuring method for measuring a thickness of
an uppermost film being formed on a substrate, said method
comprising: a step of measuring a first split light intensity
distribution on the basis of light radiated from the substrate and
light reflected from the substrate illuminated with light which has
a broadband spectrum distribution before initiation of the film
formation; a step of measuring a second split light intensity
distribution on the basis of light radiated from the substrate
before initiation of the film formation, said substrate having
ceased to be illuminated with light; a step of measuring a third
split light intensity distribution on the basis of light radiated
from the substrate and light reflected from the substrate during
the film formation, said substrate being illuminated with light
having a broadband spectrum distribution; a step of measuring a
fourth split light distribution based on the light radiated from
the substrate during the film formation, said substrate having
ceased to be illuminated with light; a first arithmetic step for
obtaining a reference intensity distribution of only the reflected
light on the basis of said first split light intensity distribution
and said second split light intensity distribution; a second
arithmetic step for obtaining an actually measured intensity
distribution of only the reflected light on the basis of said third
split light intensity distribution and said fourth split light
intensity distribution; a step of calculating a relative intensity
distribution of the reflected light for obtaining a relative
intensity distribution of the reflected light, which is a ratio of
the actually measured intensity distribution of the reflected light
to said reference intensity distribution obtained for the reflected
light; and a step of calculating a thickness of the film by
comparing said relative intensity distribution of the reflected
light with a reference intensity distribution of the reflected
light having a known relation with the thickness of the film.
20. A film thickness measuring apparatus for measuring a thickness
of an uppermost film being formed on a substrate, said apparatus
comprising: a section for measuring a first split light intensity
distribution on the basis of light radiated from the substrate and
light reflected from the substrate before initiation of the film
formation, said substrate being illuminated with light having a
broadband spectrum distribution; a section for measuring a second
split light intensity distribution on the basis of light radiated
from the substrate before initiation of the film formation, said
substrate having ceased to be illuminated with light; a section for
measuring a third split light intensity distribution on the basis
of light radiated from the substrate and light reflected from the
substrate during the film formation, said substrate being
illuminated with light having a broadband spectrum distribution;
and a section for measuring a fourth split light intensity
distribution on the basis of light radiated from the substrate
during the film formation, said substrate having ceased to be
illuminated with light; a first arithmetic section for obtaining a
reference intensity distribution of only the reflected light on the
basis of the first split light intensity distribution and the
second split light intensity distribution; a second arithmetic
section for obtaining an actually measured intensity distribution
of only the reflected light on the basis of the third split light
intensity distribution and the fourth split light intensity
distribution; a third arithmetic section for obtaining a relative
intensity distribution of the reflected light, which is a ratio of
the actually measured intensity distribution of the reflected light
to the reference intensity distribution of the reflected light; and
a film thickness calculating section for calculating a thickness of
the film by comparing said relative intensity distribution of the
reflected light with the reference intensity distribution of the
reflected light which has a known relation with the film
thickness.
21. A wafer temperature monitoring apparatus for monitoring a
temperature of a wafer having a predetermined pattern formed
therein, said apparatus comprising: a laser beam applying section
for illuminating said pattern with laser beam; a sensor for
receiving diffracted light reflected from the pattern; a lens
interposed between said sensor and the pattern and spaced from the
sensor by a distance equal to a focal length of the lens; and an
arithmetic section for calculating a temperature of the wafer on
the basis of a position of a spot image formed on said sensor.
22. A film thickness monitoring apparatus comprising: a laser beam
applying section for illuminating a pattern formed on a wafer, with
laser beam; a sensor for receiving diffracted light reflected from
the pattern; and a film thickness measuring section for measuring a
thickness of a thin film formed on the wafer on the basis of an
intensity of the diffracted light received by the sensor.
23. A wafer temperature-thickness monitoring apparatus for
monitoring a temperature of a wafer having a predetermined pattern
formed thereon and a thickness of a film formed on the wafer, said
apparatus comprising: a laser beam applying section for
illuminating said pattern with laser beam; a sensor for receiving
diffracted light reflected from the pattern; a lens arranged
between said sensor and the pattern and spaced from the sensor by a
distance equal to a focal length of the lens; an arithmetic section
for calculating a temperature of the wafer on the basis of a
position of a spot image formed on the sensor; and a thickness
measuring section for measuring a thickness of the film formed on
the wafer on the basis of an intensity of diffracted light received
by the sensor; wherein said wafer temperature and said film
thickness are measured simultaneously.
24. A temperature measuring apparatus comprising: a laser beam
applying section for illuminating a pair of reflecting surfaces of
an object with a laser beam; a light detecting section for
detecting interference fringes generated by light reflected from
said pair of reflecting surfaces; and an arithmetic section for
calculating a temperature on the basis of a distance between
adjacent one of the interference fringes detected by said light
detecting section.
25. The measuring apparatus according to claim 24, wherein a sine
wave obtained from an intensity spectrum distribution of the
interference fringes obtained in said light detecting section is
subjected to a frequency analysis in said arithmetic section,
thereby to calculate a distance between the adjacent ones of the
interference fringes.
26. The apparatus according to claim 25, wherein a maximum entropy
method is employed in said arithmetic section for perform frequency
analysis of the sine wave.
27. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein an optical system
for correcting changes is interposed between said light detecting
section and the object such that positions of the interference
fringes incident on the light detector remain unchanged even if
positions of said pair of reflecting surfaces are changed.
28. The apparatus according to claim 27, wherein said optical
system and said light detecting section are provided together
within an optical cylinder.
29. The apparatus according to claim 28, wherein a inner surface of
said optical cylinder is coated with a light absorbing
material.
30. The apparatus according to claim 27, wherein an influence of
aberration of said optical system on said interference fringes is
corrected on the basis of a distance said pair of reflecting
surfaces moves.
31. The apparatus according to claim 24, further comprising a light
detector for measuring a distance said interference fringes move,
from which a distance said pair of reflecting surfaces move is
calculated.
32. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein an optical system
for determining a position of the laser beam incident on said
object is interposed between said laser beam applying section and
said object.
33. The apparatus according to claim 32, wherein said optical
system determines positions in at least two directions on the
surface of the object.
34. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein a filter capable
of transmitting only light having a wavelength of said laser beam
is mounted in front of said light detector.
35. The apparatus according to claim 24, wherein a beam diameter
adjuster capable of changing a beam diameter of the laser beam is
interposed between said laser oscillator and said object.
36. A temperature measuring method comprising: a laser beam
applying step for illuminating a pair of reflecting surfaces of an
object with a laser beam; a light detecting step for detecting
interference fringes generated by light reflected from said pair of
reflecting surfaces; and an arithmetic step for calculating a
temperature on the basis of a distance between adjacent ones of the
interference fringes detected in the light detecting step.
37. A film thickness measuring apparatus for measuring a thickness
of an uppermost film formed on a wafer having an underlying film
formed thereon, said apparatus comprising: a measuring section for
measuring intensity of split light radiated from the wafer or the
intensity of split light reflected from said wafer; a memory
section for storing a data base prepared on the basis of intensity
of split light radiated or reflected from a reference sample before
formation of an underlying film on the wafer, and on the basis of
intensity of split light radiated or reflected from the measured
sample after formation of the underlying film on the wafer; and an
arithmetic section for calculating a thickness of the uppermost
film on the basis of the intensity of the split light radiated or
reflected from the substrate, during the film formation process,
and on the data base stored in said memory section.
38. The thickness measuring apparatus according to claim 37,
wherein said data base includes: a first data base storing the
relationship between a wavelength at a peak position of a waveform
and the thickness of said underlying film, said waveform having
been obtained by dividing the intensity of the split light radiated
or reflected from the measured sample, by the intensity of the
split light radiated reflected form the reference sample; and a
second data base storing a relationship between the wavelength at a
peak position of a waveform and the thickness of the uppermost
film, said waveform having been obtained by dividing the intensity
of the split light radiated or reflected during the film formation
process, by the intensity of the split light radiated or reflected
from the underlying film formed on the measured sample.
39. A film thickness measuring method for measuring a thickness of
an uppermost film when a working process is applied to a substrate
having an underlying film formed thereon, said method comprising: a
step of measuring intensity of a split light radiated or reflected
from a reference sample of said substrate before formation of an
underlying film on said substrate; a step of measuring intensity of
a split light radiated or reflected from a measured sample of said
substrate after formation of an underlying film on the substrate; a
step of measuring intensity a split light radiated or reflected
during the film formation process on the substrate; a step of
calculating a thickness of the underlying film on the basis of a
peak position obtained by dividing the intensity of the split light
radiated or reflected from said measured sample, by the intensity
of the split light radiated or reflected from said reference
sample; and a step of calculating a thickness of the uppermost film
on the basis of a peak position obtained by dividing the intensity
of the split light radiated or reflected during the film formation
process, by the intensity of the split light radiated or reflected
from the measured sample; wherein a relationship between the peak
position for every thickness of the underlying film and the
thickness of the uppermost film is calculated in said step of
calculating the thickness of the uppermost film, said peak position
having been stored in advance based on the thickness of the
underlying film obtained in said step of calculating the thickness
of the underlying film.
40. A process apparatus for applying a film formation process to a
substrate having an underlying film formed thereon, said apparatus
comprising: a measuring section for measuring intensity of a split
light radiated or reflected from said substrate; a memory section
for storing a data base prepared on the basis of intensity of a
split light radiated or reflected from a reference sample of the
substrate before formation of an underlying film and intensity of a
split light radiated or reflected from a measured sample of the
substrate after formation of an underlying film; an arithmetic
section for calculating a thickness of an uppermost film on the
basis of intensity of split light radiated or reflected during the
film formation on the substrate and also on the basis of a data
base stored in the memory section; and a control section for
stopping the film formation process when the thickness of the
uppermost film reaches a predetermined value.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] When the film is formed on the semiconductor wafer in CVD
the temperature of a semiconductor wafer is measured by a radiation
thermometer chamber, generally.
[0002] The radiation thermometer measures the wafer's temperature
with a constant emissivity.
[0003] However, if the emissivity of the object is unknown or
changeable, it is impossible to measure the temperature of the
object accurately. When the film is formed on the surface of the
object within the CVD chamber, the emissivity of the object is
changed like a sine wave by affect of the thin film interference.
As a result, intensity of the radiated light form the object
changes like a sine wave as shown in FIG. 35, if the temperature of
it doesn't change. This leas errors in measuring of the temperature
with a radiation thermometer as shown in FIG. 36.
[0004] To measure the surface temperature of a wafer in the process
of forming a thin film on the surface of the wafer (substrate), the
surface temperature is measured by a contact method in which a
sensor such as a thermocouple is disposed inside the wafer stage.
Alternatively, a radiation thermometer is located above the wafer
surface to detect the intensity of the radiated light for a single
wavelength or two wavelengths, thereby to measure the temperature.
The intensity of the radiated light changes with temperature
change.
[0005] On the other hand, to measure the formation amount of a thin
film, a wafer is illuminated with light emitted from a light source
having a continuous spectral distribution. Then, the interference
intensity of the reflected light, which is changed with increase in
the film thickness, is detected so as to measure the film
thickness.
[0006] Also, an ideal waveform is obtained based on an ideal model
of the film construction such as the number of films, the kinds of
films and the order of formation these films. In this case, the
film thickness is determined based on the matching of the waveform
with the ideal waveform.
[0007] However, the conventional surface temperature measuring
methods described above give rise to serious problems.
Specifically, in the contact method, a film is unlikely to be
formed in the vicinity of the thermocouple, leading to a ununiform
film formation. In the method of measuring the temperature by
detecting the spectral intensity of the radiated light, it is
impossible to measure accurately the surface temperature of the
film. To be more specific, if the films laminated on the substrate
such as a wafer differ from each other in, for example, kind,
construction and thickness, the radiated light will be repeatedly
reflected on the upper and lower surfaces of the films so as to
bring about interference. This makes it impossible to obtain a
sufficient detecting sensitivity over a measuring wavelength. It
follows that it is impossible to measure accurately the surface
temperature.
[0008] On the other hand, the conventional film thickness measuring
method described above gives rise to an additional problem.
Specifically, in this method, the film thickness is calculated by
detecting how the wavelength characteristics of the reflected light
are changed compared with the illuminated light. Therefore, under
such a high temperature as hundreds of degrees centigrade as in a
film formation process, the influence given by the radiated light
is not negligible. Consequently, the film thickness cannot be
measured accurately.
[0009] Further, in a film formation apparatus in which a wafer is
rotated at a high speed, the film formation is affected by
eccentricity and planar vibration of the wafer rotation. Therefore,
it is impossible to measure the reflected light stably with a high
reproducibility, making it impossible to measure accurately the
film thickness.
[0010] Still further, an ideal waveform is calculated in the
conventional method by using as an ideal model the construction of
a film consisting of plural layers. Thus, it is impossible to
measure accurately the film thickness unless the film construction
is known in advance.
[0011] FIG. 37 schematically shows the principle of a wafer
temperature monitoring apparatus 1 used in, for example, a
conventional semiconductor processing apparatus. The wafer
temperature monitoring apparatus 1 comprises a He--Ne laser device
3 for irradiating a semiconductor wafer .omega. housed in a chamber
2 with a laser beam 6, which is shown in FIG. 38, and a pair of CCD
cameras 4 and 5 for detecting the diffracted light reflected from
the semiconductor wafer co. If the semiconductor wafer .omega.
housed in the chamber 2 is heated to a high temperature, the wafer
.omega. is expanded so as to change a reflection angle .theta. of
the diffracted light. As a result, the position at which the
diffracted light 7 is detected by the CCD cameras 4 and 5 is moved
in accordance with the change in temperature. In the wafer
temperature monitoring apparatus 1, the temperature is measured by
detecting the amount of the movement of the position noted
above.
[0012] However, the conventional wafer temperature monitoring
apparatus 1 gives rise to a problem. Specifically, as shown in FIG.
38, films n1 and n2 are formed on the semiconductor wafer .omega.
in accordance with progress of the treatment. Also, if the
temperature of the gas within the film formation chamber 2 is
changed to form gaseous layers n3 and n4 differing from each other
in temperature, the diffracted light 7 is refracted to form a
diffracted light 8. As a result, the positions at which the
diffracted light beams 7 and 8 reach the CCD camera 4 or 5 are made
different from each other by an amount of .DELTA.d. Hence, it is
impossible to distinguish the temperature change of the
semiconductor wafer .omega. from the change in the film thickness
or from the change in the temperature of the ambient gas. It is
therefore impossible to monitor accurately the temperature.
[0013] It is very important to control the temperature of the wafer
surface in the various steps such as the film formation step and
the etching step employed in the manufacture of a semiconductor
device. In general, a thermocouple is used as a highly reliable
temperature measuring means. During the manufacturing process of
the semiconductor device, a thermocouple is brought into contact
with the back surface of the wafer or with a tool for supporting
the wafer so as to perform the temperature control. However, use of
a thermocouple gives rise to problems in terms of contamination and
life of use. In addition, it is impossible to use a thermocouple
for measuring the most important temperature, i.e., temperature on
the wafer surface at which chemical reactions are carried out.
[0014] On the other hand, a radiation thermometer is a typical
example of the known non-contact type thermometer. However, if the
film quality or the film thickness is changed during the process,
the radiation thermometer is rendered incapable of measuring the
temperature by a change in emissivity and the film interference. It
should also be noted that the radiation thermometer is for
measuring high temperatures exceeding, in general, 500.degree. C.
In other words, the radiation thermometer cannot be used for
measuring intermediate and low temperatures lower than 500.degree.
C. The thermometer cannot be used in the intermediate and low
temperature processes such as the etching process, P-CVD process,
and sputtering process.
[0015] Recently, a new method for measuring temperature is
proposed, in which a pattern of holes formed in a wafer such as
contact holes and trenches is illuminated with a laser beam. In
this method, a change in the diffraction angle of the diffracted
light is detected and the temperature is calculated from the
relationship between the diffraction angle and the temperature. In
the temperature measuring method of this type, however, it is
difficult to form in advance a predetermined pattern of holes in
the wafer.
[0016] In a film thickness measuring apparatus used in a process
apparatus such as a CVD apparatus for formation a thin film on a
semiconductor wafer, the waveform before the film formation is
taken in for every wafer to be measured. A peak is therefore
obtained by using only the waveform of the sample. The film
thickness is measured from the peak value thus obtained.
[0017] However, the film thickness measuring apparatus of this type
gives rise to a problem. Specifically, if the thickness of the
underlying film is ununiform in the case of measuring the thickness
of a film during or after formation in, for example, a CVD
apparatus, the measurement is affected by the ununiform thickness
of the underlying film so as to bring about a measuring error.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0018] An object of the first aspect of the present invention is to
measure accurately the temperature of an object to be measured,
i.e., an object, whose emissivity is unknown or changed.
[0019] According to the first aspect of the present invention, the
intensity of light radiated from the object is detected, and the
intensity of the light reflected from the object when the object is
illuminated with light is detected. The reflectivity of the object
is obtained on the basis of the detected intensity of the reflected
light and a reference intensity of the reflected light. Further,
the temperature of the object is obtained on the basis of the
emissivity obtained from the reflectivity and the intensity of the
radiated light. The particular technique makes it possible to
measure accurately the temperature of the object whose emissivity
is unknown or changed.
[0020] An object of the second aspect of the present invention is
to measure accurately the surface temperature of a substrate during
the film formation treatment and to measure accurately the film
thickness during the film formation treatment.
[0021] According to the second aspect of the present invention, it
is possible to obtain a sufficient detecting sensitivity by
obtaining an integrated value of the radiation intensity by
cumulatively adding the intensities of components of the light
radiated from the substrate and having various wavelengths.
Further, it is possible to perform the measurement accurately
because the surface temperature is calculated from the integrated
value on the basis of reference data having the temperature and the
integrated value correlated each other in advance.
[0022] It should also be noted that a relative intensity
distribution of radiated light, which is a ratio of a reference
intensity distribution of radiated light to a measured intensity
distribution of radiated light, is obtained and compared with a
theoretical intensity distribution of radiated light so as to
offset the influence given by an optical system. Further, it is
possible to cancel the noise generated by, for example,
disturbance, making it possible to measure accurately the film
thickness without being disturbed by noises or the like. In other
words, since it is possible in principle to reduce the noise caused
by, for example, disturbance, the measurement is less affected by
noises.
[0023] An object of the third aspect of the present invention is to
measure accurately the temperature of a semiconductor wafer without
being affected by the changes in the film thickness and in the
temperature of the ambient gas, to measure the thickness of the
thin film formed on a wafer, and to measure simultaneously the
wafer temperature and the film thickness.
[0024] According to the third aspect of the present invention, an
image formation point on a sensor is determined by an incident
angle of a diffracted light on a lens. Therefore, since the image
formation point is not changed even if the incident position of the
diffracted light is deviated by, for example, refraction, the
temperature can be measured without being affected by refraction
caused by a thin film or ambient temperature. Further, since the
intensity of the diffracted light is changed depending on the
thickness of a thin film formed on a wafer because of the thin film
interference, it is possible to measure the thickness of the thin
film formed on the wafer on the basis of the intensity of the
diffracted light received by a sensor.
[0025] An object of the fourth aspect of the present invention is
to measure in a non-contact style the temperature of an object by
utilizing a diffracted light without formation in advance a
predetermined pattern of holes in the object.
[0026] According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the
temperature is calculated on the basis of the interval of
interference fringes formed by the light rays reflected from a pair
of reflecting surfaces of an object, making it unnecessary to form
a special pattern and to measure the temperature highly
accurately.
[0027] An object of the fifth aspect of the present invention is to
cancel the influence given by a ununiform thickness of the
underlying film so as to improve the accuracy in measuring the film
thickness.
[0028] According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the
thickness of the uppermost layer of a film during a film formation
process is measured in accordance with the thickness of the
underlying film, making it possible to measure accurately the film
thickness without being affected by a difference in the thickness
of the underlying film. It follows that formation of the uppermost
layer can be stopped accurately at a target thickness.
[0029] Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be
set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be
obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the
invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be
realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and
combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING
[0030] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and
constitute a part of the specification, illustrate presently
preferred embodiments of the invention, and together with the
general description given above and the detailed description of the
preferred embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles
of the invention.
[0031] FIG. 1 shows how a temperature measuring apparatus according
to a first embodiment of the present invention is used for
measuring the temperature of a semiconductor wafer on which a film
is being formed within a CVD chamber;
[0032] FIG. 2 shows the change with time in the temperature of the
semiconductor wafer during the film formation on the wafer within
the CVD chamber shown in FIG. 1;
[0033] FIG. 3 shows how a temperature measuring apparatus according
to a second embodiment of the present invention is used for
measuring the temperature of a semiconductor wafer on which a film
is being formed within a CVD chamber;
[0034] FIG. 4 shows how a temperature measuring apparatus according
to a third embodiment of the present invention is used for
measuring the temperature of a semiconductor wafer on which a film
is being formed within a CVD chamber;
[0035] FIG. 5 shows how a temperature measuring apparatus according
to a fourth embodiment of the present invention is used for
measuring the temperature of a semiconductor wafer on which a film
is being formed within a CVD chamber;
[0036] FIG. 6 shows the construction of a surface temperature
measuring apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present
invention;
[0037] FIGS. 7A and 7B are graphs showing the relationship between
temperature and light intensity, both detected by the surface
temperature measuring apparatus shown in FIG. 6;
[0038] FIG. 8 is a graph showing the relationship between the
theoretical light intensity and the light intensity actually
measured by the surface temperature measuring apparatus shown in
FIG. 6;
[0039] FIG. 9 shows the construction of a film thickness measuring
apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present
invention;
[0040] FIG. 10 shows the principle of measurement in the film
thickness measuring apparatus shown in FIG. 9;
[0041] FIGS. 11A and 11B are graphs showing the intensity
distribution of radiated light, which is measured by the film
thickness measuring apparatus shown in FIG. 9;
[0042] FIG. 12A is a graph showing the relative intensity
distribution of radiated light;
[0043] FIG. 12B is a graph showing the theoretical intensity
distribution of radiated light;
[0044] FIG. 13 shows the construction of a gist portion of a film
thickness measuring apparatus according to a modification of the
sixth embodiment of the present invention;
[0045] FIG. 14 shows the construction of a film thickness measuring
apparatus according to a seventh embodiment of the present
invention;
[0046] FIGS. 15A and 15B show the intensity distribution of the
reflected light, which is measured by the film thickness measuring
apparatus shown in FIG. 14;
[0047] FIG. 16A is a graph showing a relative intensity
distribution of radiated light;
[0048] FIG. 16B is a graph showing the relationship between the
film thickness and the wavelength at which a maximal value takes
place;
[0049] FIG. 17 shows the construction of a monitoring apparatus
according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention;
[0050] FIG. 18 schematically shows the positional relationship
between a lens and a CCD camera incorporated in the monitoring
apparatus shown in FIG. 17;
[0051] FIGS. 19A to 19C show spot images formed by a CCD camera
incorporated in the monitoring apparatus shown in FIG. 17;
[0052] FIGS. 20A and 20B show how an inclination of a semiconductor
wafer is corrected by using the monitoring apparatus shown in FIG.
17;
[0053] FIG. 21 shows the construction of a temperature measuring
apparatus according to a ninth embodiment of the present
invention;
[0054] FIGS. 22A and 22B show the principle of the temperature
measurement performed by the temperature measuring apparatus shown
in FIG. 21;
[0055] FIG. 23 shows the principle of the temperature measurement
performed by the temperature measuring apparatus shown in FIG.
21;
[0056] FIGS. 24A and 24B show the intensity distribution of
interference fringes in the temperature measuring apparatus shown
in FIG. 21 and the result of calculation by a maximum entropy
method;
[0057] FIGS. 25A to 25C show the movement of the measuring point in
the temperature measuring apparatus shown in FIG. 21;
[0058] FIGS. 26A and 26B show the movement of the measuring point
in the temperature measuring apparatus shown in FIG. 21;
[0059] FIGS. 27A and 27B show images of interference fringes in the
temperature measuring apparatus shown in FIG. 21;
[0060] FIG. 28 shows the principle of measuring the moving amount
in the temperature measuring apparatus shown in FIG. 21;
[0061] FIGS. 29A and 29B show how a measuring error is caused by a
laser beam diameter in the temperature measuring apparatus shown in
FIG. 21;
[0062] FIG. 30 shows how a measuring error is caused by a lens
aberration in the temperature measuring apparatus shown in FIG.
21;
[0063] FIG. 31 shows the construction of a CVD apparatus according
to a tenth embodiment of the present invention;
[0064] FIG. 32 is a graph showing a first data base of the CVD
apparatus shown in FIG. 31;
[0065] FIG. 33 is a graph showing a second data base of the CVD
apparatus shown in FIG. 31;
[0066] FIG. 34 is a flow chart showing the procedure of formation a
film in the CVD apparatus shown in FIG. 31; and
[0067] FIGS. 35 to 38 relate to prior art, in which:
[0068] FIG. 35 shows changes in the intensity of light radiated
from a semiconductor wafer and in the intensity of the reflected
light during a film formation within a CVD chamber;
[0069] FIG. 36 shows the result of the temperature measurement of a
semiconductor wafer using a radiation thermometer;
[0070] FIG. 37 shows the construction of a conventional wafer
temperature monitoring apparatus; and
[0071] FIG. 38 shows the influences given by an ambient temperature
and a film thickness in the wafer temperature monitoring apparatus
shown in FIG. 38.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0072] There now follows a description of the present invention
with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0073] FIGS. 1 and 2 collectively show the first embodiment of the
present invention. Specifically, FIG. 1 shows the construction of a
temperature measuring apparatus, which is used for measuring the
temperature of a semiconductor wafer .omega.a during film formation
on the wafer within a CVD chamber 101.
[0074] As shown in the drawing, a film is formed on the
semiconductor wafer .omega.a, which is kept rotated, within the CVD
chamber 101. A detecting terminal 105 including a lens 104 is
mounted to one view port 103 on the upper surface of the CVD
chamber 101. The detecting terminal 105, which is used as a
radiation spectrum detecting means for detecting the spectrum of
light radiated from the semiconductor wafer .omega.a, is connected
to a spectroscope 107 via an optical fiber 106.
[0075] The spectrum of light radiated from the semiconductor wafer
.omega.a and received through the lens 104 and the optical fiber
106 is detected by a photoelectric sensor included in the
spectroscope 107 and converted in the spectroscope 107 into a
signal denoting the spectrum of the radiated light. Only the
spectrum of the light component having a predetermined wavelength,
e.g., 800 to 900 nm, which is selected from among the light
radiated from the semiconductor wafer .omega.a, is acquired by the
spectroscope 107.
[0076] On the other hand, a detecting terminal 110 including a lens
109 is mounted to another view port 108 formed on the upper surface
of the CVD chamber 101. The detecting terminal 101, which is used
as a reflected light spectrum detecting means for detecting the
spectrum of the reflected light when the semiconductor wafer
.omega.a is irradiated with light, is connected to an optical fiber
111, which is branched into an optical fiber 112 and another
optical fiber 114. A halogen lamp 113 is connected to the optical
fiber 112. Also, a spectroscope 115 is connected to the other
optical fiber 114.
[0077] The light, reflected from the semiconductor wafer .omega.a
when the wafer .omega.a is irradiated with light radiated from the
halogen lamp 113, is received by the spectroscope 115 through the
lens 109 and the optical fibers 111 and 114, and the spectrum of
the light reflected from the semiconductor wafer .omega.a is
detected by a photoelectric sensor included in the spectroscope 115
so as to be converted into a reflected light spectrum signal. Only
the spectrum of the light component having a predetermined
wavelength, e.g., 800 to 900 nm, which is selected from among the
light radiated from the halogen lamp and the light reflected from
the semiconductor wafer .omega.a, is acquired by the spectroscope
115, as in the spectroscope 107.
[0078] The reflected light spectrum signal generated from the
spectroscope 115 is supplied to a reflectance calculating section
116, to obtain a ratio of the reflected light spectrum to a
reference reflected light spectrum stored in advance in the
reflectance calculating section 116. To be more specific, when a
reference semiconductor wafer (bare silicon) is used in place of
the semiconductor wafer .omega.a, the reference semiconductor wafer
is irradiated with the light radiated from the halogen lamp 113 and
the light reflected from the reference semiconductor wafer is
received by the spectroscope 115 through the lens 109 and the
optical fibers 111 and 114 so as to obtain a spectrum of the light
reflected from the reference semiconductor wafer. The reflected
light spectrum thus obtained is stored in advance in the
reflectance calculating section 116, as described above. The
reflectance of the semiconductor wafer .omega.a is obtained within
the reflectance calculating section 116, from the ratio of the
spectrum of the light reflected from the semiconductor wafer
.omega.a to the spectrum of the light reflected from the reference
semiconductor wafer.
[0079] The reflectance acquired in the reflectance calculating
section 116 is supplied to a temperature calculating section 117
which includes an emission rate calculating section 118. The
emission rate is obtained by an equation (1) in the emission rate
calculating section 118 from the reflectance obtained in the
reflectance calculating section 116:
E=1-R-T (1)
[0080] where, E represents the emission rate, R represents the
reflectance, and T represents the transmittance.
[0081] Then, the temperature of the semiconductor wafer .omega.a is
obtained by an equation (2) based on the emission rate E thus
obtained and the spectrum of the radiated light detected by the
spectroscope 107:
Temperature=.sup.4{square root}{square root over (
)}(1/.sigma.).intg.E.mu- ltidot.Rs d.lambda. (2)
[0082] where, .sigma. represents the Stefan-Boltzmann constant, E
represents the emission rate, Rs represents the radiation spectrum,
and .lambda. represents the wavelength.
[0083] Let us describe the operation of the apparatus constructed
as described above.
[0084] Specifically, during the film formation on the semiconductor
wafer .omega.a which is kept rotated within the CVD chamber 101,
the light radiated from the semiconductor wafer .omega.a is guided
to the spectroscope 107 via the lens 104 of the detecting terminal
105 connected to the view port 103 and the optical fiber 106. Only
the spectrum of the light component having a wavelength of, for
example, 800 to 900 nm, which is selected from among the light
received by the spectroscope 107, is acquired in the spectroscope
107 so as to be converted by the photoelectric sensor into a
radiated light spectrum signal representing the spectrum of the
light radiated from the semiconductor wafer .omega.a.
[0085] On the other hand, the light radiated from the halogen lamp
113 is guided through the optical fibers 112 and 111 and, then, the
surface of the semiconductor wafer .omega.a arranged within the CVD
chamber 101 is irradiated with the light radiated from the halogen
lamp through the lens 109 included in the detecting terminal 110.
Further, the light reflected from the semiconductor wafer .omega.a
is guided to the spectroscope 115 through the lens 109 of the
detecting terminal 110 connected to the view port 108 and through
the optical fibers 111 and 114.
[0086] Only the spectrum of the light component having a wavelength
of, for example, 800 to 900 nm, which is selected from among the
light reflected from the semiconductor wafer .omega.a, is acquired
in the spectroscope 115 and converted by the photoelectric sensor
into a reflected light spectrum signal denoting the spectrum of the
light reflected from the semiconductor wafer .omega.a.
[0087] FIG. 35 shows changes in the radiated light spectrum, which
is obtained by integrating the spectrum signal of the radiated
light having a wavelength of 800 to 900 nm, said signal being
acquired in the spectro-scope 107, and in the reflected light
spectrum, which is obtained by integrating the spectrum signal of
the reflected light having a wavelength of 800 to 900 nm, said
signal being acquired in the spectroscope 115.
[0088] The reflected light spectrum signal generated from the
spectroscope 115 is supplied to the reflectance calculating section
116. The reflectance of the semiconductor wafer .omega.a is
obtained from a ratio of the reflected light spectrum within the
spectroscope 115 to the reflected light spectrum which is stored in
advance in the reflectance calculating section 116 and is detected
in the case of using a reference semiconductor wafer. It should be
noted that, where the semiconductor wafer .omega.a is a silicon
wafer, the transmittance of light having a wavelength of 800 to 900
nm is 0, with the result that the emission rate of the
semiconductor wafer .omega.a is obtained on the basis of the
reflectance, as apparent from the equation (1).
[0089] The emission rate is acquired in the temperature calculating
section 117 by an equation (1) from the reflectance obtained in the
reflectance calculating section 116. Further, the temperature of
the semiconductor wafer .omega.a is acquired in the temperature
calculating section 117 by an equation (2) based on the emission
rate thus obtained and the radiated light spectrum detected by the
spectroscope 107. FIG. 2 shows changes with time in the temperature
of the semiconductor wafer .omega.a during a film formation on the
semiconductor wafer .omega.a within the CVD chamber 101, said
temperature being measured on a real time basis.
[0090] As described above, in the first embodiment of the present
invention, the spectrum of the light radiated from the
semiconductor wafer .omega.a is detected. Also detected is the
spectrum of the light reflected from the semiconductor wafer
.omega.a when the semiconductor wafer .omega.a is irradiated with
light. The reflectance of the semiconductor wafer .omega.a is
obtained on the basis of the reflected light spectrum thus detected
and a reference reflected light spectrum. Further, the temperature
of the semiconductor wafer .omega.a is obtained on the basis of the
reflectance thus obtained and the semiconductor wafer .omega.a. It
follows that, even if the radiated light spectrum is changed by a
thin film interference to depict a sine wave, the temperature of
the semiconductor wafer .omega.a can be measured accurately on the
real time basis without being affected by the sine wave-like change
in the spectrum of the radiated light, in spite of the fact that
the temperature of the semiconductor wafer .omega.a is being
changed as in the process of forming a film on the semiconductor
wafer .omega.a within the CVD chamber 101. It should also be noted
that the temperature of a object, whose emission rate is unknown,
other than the semiconductor wafer .omega.a can also be measured
accurately in the first embodiment of the present invention.
[0091] Let us describe a temperature measuring apparatus according
to a second embodiment of the present invention with reference to
FIG. 3. Those members of the apparatus which are common with the
members of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same
reference numerals so as to omit an overlapping description. The
temperature measuring apparatus shown in FIG. 3 is used for
measuring the temperature of a light-transmitting semiconductor
wafer .omega.b on which a film is being formed within the CVD
chamber 101.
[0092] As shown in FIG. 3, a detecting terminal 122 including a
lens 121 is mounted to a view port 120 on the lower surface of the
CVD chamber 101 as a transmitting light spectrum detecting means
for detecting the spectrum of the light transmitted through the
light-transmitting semiconductor wafer .omega.b. Also, a
spectroscope 124 is connected to the detecting terminal 122 through
an optical fiber 123.
[0093] The spectrum of the light transmitted through the
semiconductor wafer .omega.b is detected by a photoelectric sensor
included in the spectroscope 124 and, then, converted within the
spectroscope 124 into a signal denoting the spectrum of the
transmitted light. Also, only the spectrum of the light component
having a wavelength of, for example, 800 to 900 nm, which is
selected from among the light transmitted through the semiconductor
wafer .omega.b, is obtained in the spectroscope 124.
[0094] The transmitted light spectrum signal generated from the
spectroscope 124 is supplied to a transmittance calculating section
125 to obtain a ratio of the transmitted light spectrum to a
reference transmitted light spectrum stored in advance in the
transmittance calculating section 125. To be more specific, when a
reference semiconductor wafer (bare silicon) is used in place of
the semiconductor wafer .omega.b, the reference semiconductor wafer
is irradiated with the light radiated from the halogen lamp 113 and
the light transmitted through the reference semiconductor wafer is
received by the spectroscope 124 through the lens 121 and the
optical fibers 123 so as to obtain a spectrum of the light
transmitted through the reference semiconductor wafer. The
transmitted light spectrum thus obtained is stored in advance in
the transmittance calculating section 125, as described above. The
transmittance of the semiconductor wafer .omega.b is obtained
within the transmittance calculating section 125 from the ratio of
the spectrum of the light transmitted through the semiconductor
wafer .omega.b to the spectrum of the light transmitted through
from the reference semiconductor wafer.
[0095] The temperature measuring apparatus of the second
embodiment, which is constructed as described above, is operated as
follows. Specifically, during the film formation on the
semiconductor wafer .omega.a which is kept rotated within the CVD
chamber 101, the light radiated from the semiconductor wafer
.omega.a is guided to the spectroscope 107 via the optical fiber
106, as in the apparatus of the first embodiment. Only the spectrum
of the light component having a wavelength of, for example, 800 to
900 nm, which is selected from among the light received by the
spectroscope 107, is obtained in the spectroscope 107 so as to be
converted into a radiated light spectrum signal representing the
spectrum of the light radiated from the semiconductor wafer
.omega.a.
[0096] On the other hand, the light radiated from the halogen lamp
113 is guided through the optical fibers 112 and 111 and, then, the
surface of the semiconductor wafer .omega.a is irradiated with the
light radiated from the halogen lamp 113. Further, the light
reflected from the semiconductor wafer .omega.a is guided again to
the spectroscope 115 through the optical fibers 111 and 114.
[0097] Only the spectrum of the light component having a wavelength
of, for example, 800 to 900 nm, which is selected from among the
light reflected from the semiconductor wafer .omega.a, is acquired
in the spectroscope 115 and converted into a reflected light
spectrum signal denoting the spectrum of the light reflected from
the semiconductor wafer .omega.a.
[0098] The reflected light spectrum signal generated from the
spectroscope 115 is supplied to the reflectance calculating section
116 so as to obtain the reflectance of the semiconductor wafer
.omega.b from a ratio of the reflected light spectrum supplied to
the reflectance calculating section 116 to a reflected light
spectrum which is detected in the case of using a reference
semiconductor wafer stored in advance.
[0099] Further, the transmitted light spectrum signal generated
from the spectroscope 124 is supplied to the transmittance
calculating section 125 to obtain the transmittance of the
semiconductor wafer .omega.b on the basis of a ratio of the
transmitted light spectrum supplied to the section 125 to a
transmitted light spectrum stored in advance in the transmittance
calculating section 125, which is detected in the case of using a
reference semiconductor wafer.
[0100] Then, the emission rate is obtained by an equation (1) based
on the reflectance obtained in the reflectance calculating section
116 and the transmittance calculated in the transmittance
calculating section 125. Further, the temperature of the
semiconductor wafer .omega.a is obtained in the temperature
calculating section by an equation (2) based on the emission rate
thus obtained and the radiated light spectrum detected by the
spectroscope 107.
[0101] As described above, in the temperature measuring apparatus
according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the
transmitted light spectrum when the semiconductor wafer .omega.b is
irradiated with light is detected so as to obtain the transmittance
of the semiconductor wafer .omega.b. Then, the temperature of the
semiconductor wafer .omega.b is obtained on the basis of the
transmittance thus obtained as well as the reflectance and the
radiated light spectrum. It follows that the temperature of the
semiconductor wafer .omega.a can be measured accurately on the real
time basis during film formation on the wafer .omega.a within the
CVD chamber 101 as in the apparatus of the first embodiment, even
if the semiconductor wafer .omega.b transmits light. It should also
be noted that the temperature measuring apparatus of the second
embodiment permits measuring the temperature of a object, whose
emission rate and transmittance are unknown, other than the
semiconductor wafer .omega.a.
[0102] FIG. 4 shows the construction of a temperature measuring
apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
Those members of the apparatus which are common with the members of
the apparatus shown in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference
numerals so as to avoid an overlapping description. FIG. 4 shows
that the apparatus of the third embodiment is used for measuring
the temperature of a semiconductor wafer during film formation on
the wafer within a CVD chamber.
[0103] As shown in FIG. 4, an on-off mechanism 130 for performing
an on (closed)-off (open) operation of light such as a chopper or a
shutter is mounted to the optical fiber 112 connected to the
halogen lamp 113. The on-off mechanism 130 serves to turn the light
radiated from the halogen lamp 113 on and off at a predetermined
interval under the control of a synchronism control section 131
which delivers a synchronous signal s to each of the spectroscopes
115 and 124.
[0104] The spectroscope 115 serves to detect the spectrum of the
light radiated from the semiconductor wafer .omega.b when the
on-off mechanism 130 is turned on so as to shield the light
radiated from the halogen lamp 113 and also serves to detect the
spectrum of the light reflected from the semiconductor wafer
.omega.b when the on-off mechanism 130 is turned off so as to
permit the semiconductor wafer .omega.b to be irradiated with light
radiated from the halogen lamp 113.
[0105] On the other hand, the spectroscope 124 serves to detect the
spectrum of the light transmitted through the semiconductor wafer
.omega.b when the on-off mechanism 130 is turned off so as to
permit the semiconductor wafer .omega.b to be irradiated with light
radiated from the halogen lamp 113.
[0106] The reflectance calculating section 116 receives the
synchronous signal s delivered from the synchronism control section
131. The reflected light spectrum signal generated from the
spectroscope 115 is also supplied to the reflectance calculating
section 116 when the on-off mechanism 130 is turned off so as to
allow the reflectance calculating section 116 to obtain the
reflectance of the semiconductor wafer .omega.b based on a ratio of
the reflected light spectrum supplied to the section 116 to a
reflected light spectrum stored in advance in the section 116,
which is detected in the case of using a reference semiconductor
wafer.
[0107] The transmittance calculating section 125 also receives the
synchronous signal s delivered from the synchronism control section
131. The transmitted light spectrum signal generated from the
spectroscope 124 is also supplied to the transmittance calculating
section 125 when the on-off mechanism 130 is turned off so as to
obtain the transmittance of the semiconductor wafer .omega.b based
on a ratio of the transmitted light spectrum supplied to the
section 125 to a transmitted light spectrum stored in advance in
the section 125, which is detected in the case of using a reference
semiconductor wafer.
[0108] The emission rate is obtained in the temperature calculating
section 117 by equation (1) from the reflectance obtained in the
reflectance calculating section 116 and the transmittance obtained
in the transmittance calculating section 125. Further, the
temperature of the semiconductor wafer .omega.a is obtained in the
temperature calculating section 117 by equation (2) based on the
emission rate thus obtained and the radiated light spectrum
detected by the spectroscope 115 when the on-off mechanism 130 is
turned on upon receipt of a synchronous signal delivered from the
synchronism control section 131.
[0109] There now follows a description of the operation of the
temperature measuring apparatus constructed as described above.
[0110] During film formation on the semiconductor wafer .omega.a
which is rotated within the CVD chamber 101, the halogen lamp 113
radiates light and the on-off mechanism 130 turns the light
radiated from the halogen lamp 113 on and off at a predetermined
interval under the control of the synchronism control section 131.
When the on-off mechanism 130 is turned on to shield the light
radiated from the halogen lamp 113, the light radiated from the
semiconductor wafer .omega.a is guided to the spectroscope 115
through the optical fibers 111 and 114. Only the spectrum of the
light component having a wavelength of, for example, 800 to 900 nm,
which is selected from among the light radiated from the
semiconductor wafer .omega.a, is obtained in the spectroscope 115
so as to be converted into a signal denoting the spectrum of the
light radiated from the semiconductor wafer .omega.a.
[0111] On the other hand, when the on-off mechanism 130 is turned
off to permit the surface of the semiconductor wafer .omega.a to be
irradiated with the light radiated from the halogen lamp 113 and
guided to the semiconductor wafer .omega.a through the optical
fibers 112 and 111, the light reflected from the surface of the
semiconductor wafer .omega.a is guided to the spectroscope 115
through the optical fibers 111 and 114. Only the spectrum of the
light component having a wavelength of, for example, 800 to 900 nm,
which is selected from among the light reflected from the
semiconductor wafer wa, is obtained in the spectroscope 115 so as
to be converted into a signal denoting the spectrum of the light
reflected from the semiconductor wafer .omega.a. In this step, the
reflected light spectrum signal generated from the spectroscope 115
when the on-off mechanism 130 is turned off, upon receipt of a
synchronous signal delivered from the synchronism control section
131, is supplied to the reflectance calculating section 116. As a
result, the reflectance of the semiconductor wafer .omega.b is
obtained in the reflectance calculating section 116 from a ratio of
the reflected light spectrum supplied to the section 116 to a
reflected light spectrum stored in advance in the section 116,
which is detected in the case of using a reference semiconductor
wafer.
[0112] At the same time the light, transmitted through the
semiconductor wafer .omega.a when the on-off mechanism 130 is
turned off to permit the surface of the semiconductor wafer
.omega.a to be irradiated with the light radiated from the halogen
lamp 113, is guided to the spectroscope 124 through the optical
fiber 123. Only the spectrum of the light having a wavelength of,
for example, 800 to 900 nm, which is selected from among the light
transmitted through the semiconductor wafer .omega.a, is obtained
in the spectroscope 124 so as to be converted into a signal
denoting the spectrum of the light transmitted through the
semiconductor wafer .omega.a.
[0113] In this step, the transmitted light spectrum signal
generated from the spectroscope 124 when the on-off mechanism 130
is turned on upon receipt of a synchronous signal delivered from
the synchronism control section 131 is supplied to the
transmittance calculating section 125. As a result, the
transmittance of the semiconductor wafer .omega.b is obtained from
a ratio of the transmitted light spectrum supplied to the
transmittance calculating section 125 to a transmitted light
spectrum stored in advance in the section 125, which is detected in
the case of using a reference semiconductor wafer.
[0114] Then, the emission rate is obtained in the temperature
calculating section 117 by equation (1) from the reflectance
obtained in the reflectance calculating section 116 and the
transmittance obtained in the transmittance calculating section
125. Further, the temperature of the semiconductor wafer .omega.a
is obtained in the temperature calculating section 117 by an
equation (2) on the basis of the emission rate thus obtained and
the radiated light spectrum detected by the spectroscope 115 when
the on-off mechanism 130 is turned on upon receipt of a synchronous
signal s delivered from the synchronism control section 131.
[0115] As described above, in the temperature measuring apparatus
according to the third embodiment of the present invention, the
light radiated from the halogen lamp 113 is turned on or off by the
on-off mechanism 130 so as to permit the reflected light and the
radiated light from the semiconductor wafer .omega.b to be
alternately received in synchronism with the on-off function of the
light radiated from the halogen lamp 113. The temperature of the
semiconductor wafer .omega.b is obtained on the basis of the
reflected light spectrum and the radiated light spectrum. Needless
to say, the apparatus according to the third embodiment of the
present invention produces effects similar to those produced by the
apparatus of the second embodiment. In addition, the apparatus of
the third embodiment can be simplified, compared with the apparatus
of the second embodiment, because the detecting terminal 105, the
optical fiber 106 and the spectroscope 107, which are included in
the apparatus of the second embodiment, need not be used in the
apparatus of the third embodiment.
[0116] The above description of the third embodiment covers the
case where the temperature measuring apparatus is used for
measuring the temperature of the semiconductor wafer .omega.b which
transmits light. If the apparatus of the third embodiment is used
for measuring the temperature of the semiconductor wafer .omega.a
having a light transmittance of substantially 0, e.g., less than
0.01%, it is possible to further simplify the apparatus by omitting
the detecting terminal 122, the optical fiber 123, the spectroscope
124 and the transmittance calculating section 125.
[0117] Let us describe a temperature measuring apparatus according
to a fourth embodiment of the present invention with reference to
FIG. 5. Those members of the apparatus shown in FIG. 5 which are
common with the members of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 are
denoted by the same reference numerals so as to avoid an
overlapping description. The apparatus shown in FIG. 5 is used for
measuring the temperature of the semiconductor wafer .omega.a
during film formation on the wafer .omega.a within the CVD
chamber.
[0118] In the apparatus shown in FIG. 5, a device consisting of an
interference filter 140 and a photoelectric sensor 141 is used in
place of the spectroscope 107 shown in FIG. 1. Also, a device
consisting of an interference filter 142 and a photoelectric sensor
143 is used in place of the spectroscope 115 shown in FIG. 1. Each
of these interference filters 140 and 142 selectively transmits the
light component having a wavelength of, for example, 800 to 900
nm.
[0119] There now follows a description of the operation of the
temperature measuring apparatus of the construction described
above.
[0120] Specifically, the light radiated from the semiconductor
wafer .omega.a during film formation thereon within the CVD chamber
101 is guided to the interference filter 140 through the optical
fiber 106. The interference filter 140 selectively transmits the
light component having a wavelength of, for example, 800 to 900 nm,
which is selected from among the light radiated from the
semiconductor wafer .omega.a. The light component transmitted
through the interference filter 140 is converted by the
photoelectric sensor 141 into a signal denoting the intensity of
the light radiated from the semiconductor wafer .omega.a.
[0121] On the other hand, the light radiated from the halogen lamp
113 is guided by the optical fibers 112 and 111 so as to have the
surface of the semiconductor wafer .omega.a irradiated with the
light radiated from the halogen lamp 113. The light reflected from
the semiconductor wafer .omega.a is guided to the interference
filter 142 through the optical fibers 111 and 114. The interference
filter 142 selectively transmits the light component having a
wavelength of, for example, 800 to 900 nm, which is selected from
among the light reflected from the semiconductor wafer .omega.a.
The light component transmitted through the interference filter 142
is converted by the photoelectric sensor 143 into a signal denoting
the intensity of the light reflected from the semiconductor wafer
.omega.a.
[0122] The reflected light intensity signal generated from the
photoelectric sensor 143 is supplied to the reflectance calculating
section 116. The reflectance of the semiconductor wafer .omega.a is
obtained in the reflectance calculating section 116 from a ratio of
the reflected light intensity supplied to the section 116 to a
reflected light intensity stored in advance in the section 116,
which is detected in the case of using a reference semiconductor
wafer.
[0123] The emission rate is obtained in the temperature calculating
section 117 by an equation (1) from the reflectance obtained in the
reflectance calculating section 116. Further, the temperature of
the semiconductor wafer .omega.a is obtained in the temperature
calculating section 117 by an equation (2) based on the emission
rate thus obtained and the radiated light intensity signal
generated from the photoelectric sensor 141.
[0124] Needless to say, the temperature measuring apparatus
according to the fourth embodiment produces the effects similar to
those produced by the apparatus of the first embodiment. In
addition, the apparatus of the fourth embodiment can be
manufactured at a lower cost because the interference filters 140
and 142 used in the fourth embodiment are cheaper than the
spectroscopes 107 and 115 used in the apparatus of the first
embodiment.
[0125] To reiterate, the interference filters 140 and 142 are used
in the apparatus of the fourth embodiment in place of the
spectroscopes 107 and 115. Likewise, interference filters can be
used in each of the second and third embodiments in place of the
spectroscopes 107, 115 and 124.
[0126] As described above, the temperature measuring method and the
temperature measuring apparatus according to the first to fourth
embodiments of the present invention make it possible to measure
accurately the temperature of a object whose emission rate is
unknown or whose emission rate is changed.
[0127] FIG. 6 shows the construction of a surface temperature
measuring apparatus 210 according to a fifth embodiment of the
present invention.
[0128] As shown in the drawing, the surface temperature measuring
apparatus 210 comprises a stage 211 for holding a semiconductor
wafer .omega.c, a lens 212 aligned with the wafer .omega.c to
converge the light radiated from the wafer .omega.c, an optical
fiber 213 having one end aligned with the lens 212 for guiding the
radiated light collected by the lens 212, a spectroscope 214
aligned with the other end of the optical fiber 213 for subjecting
the light having a predetermined range of wavelength to a
spectroscopic analysis for every predetermined wavelength step, an
array sensor 215 mounted to the spectroscope 214 for detecting the
intensity of the spectroscopically analyzed light for every
wavelength step so as to generate the light intensity as an
integrated value, a signal processing circuit 216 for collecting
the signal generated from the array sensor 215 so as to subject the
collected signal to an A/D conversion, and a computer 217 receiving
the output signal generated from the signal processing circuit 216
for calculating the intensity distribution of the radiated light
based on the integrated value of the light intensity. On the other
hand, a memory section 218 storing a table consisting of plural
reference data is connected to computer 217. Incidentally, a heater
211a is mounted under the wafer .omega.c.
[0129] In the surface temperature measuring apparatus 210 of the
construction described above, the surface temperature of a film
formed on a wafer .omega.c during a film forming process is
measured as follows. Specifically, the light radiated from the
surface of the wafer .omega.c disposed on the wafer stage 211 and
heated by the heater 211a is converged by the lens 212 and, then,
guided to the spectroscope 214 through the optical fiber 213. In
the spectroscope 214, the light spectroscopically analyzed for
every predetermined wavelength step is guided to the array sensor
215. In the array sensor 215, the integrated value of the light
intensity of a predetermined wavelength step width is detected for
every sensor. The integrated value is subjected to an A/D
conversion in the signal processing circuit 216, and the A/D
converted signal is supplied to the computer 217.
[0130] In the computer 217, the wavelength distribution Q (d, t,
.lambda.) of the radiated light is calculated on the basis of the
integrated value. Further, a whole wavelength intensity integrated
value G (d, t)=.intg.Q(d, t, .lambda.)d.lambda., in which the range
of integration is used as the whole wavelength, is calculated on
the basis of the wavelength distribution Q (d, t, .lambda.).
[0131] The whole wavelength intensity integrated value G is
standardized on the basis of the table stored in advance in the
memory section 218 depending on the material, construction and
thickness of the film.
[0132] There now follows a description of the table. Specifically,
the emission rate is changed depending on the material,
construction and thickness of the film. Therefore, the relation of
the whole wavelength intensity integrated value G to the surface
temperature of the object is represented by a curve as shown in,
for example, FIG. 7A, said curve denoting different absolute
amounts of the integrated value. Suppose, for example, the
standardization with the integrated value G.sub.ref=G (d, .tau.) at
.tau.K (Kelvin temperature). In this case, Gk=G(d,
t)/G.sub.ref.
[0133] Incidentally, the reference data G.sub.ref is corrected in
advance with .tau.K by, for example, a contact method depending on
the material, construction and thickness of the film. In this case,
the standard integrated value Gk depicts the same curve relative to
the temperature independent of the material, construction and
thickness of the film, as shown in FIG. 7B. It follows that, if it
is possible to present theoretically the standard integrated value
characteristics, the surface temperature of the target film can be
estimated from the value of the standard integrated value Gk. In
other words, the surface temperature of a film of every material,
construction and thickness can be obtained by acquiring in advance
the reference value G.sub.ref in accordance with the material,
construction and thickness of the film so as to prepare a
table.
[0134] On the other hand, the blackbody radiation theory indicates
that the radiated light distribution of a blackbody can be given
by:
E=C1/.lambda..sup.5/(exp(C2/.lambda..tau.)-1)
[0135] where C1 represents a first radiation constant
(2.pi.hc.sup.2), C2 represents a second radiation constant (ch/k),
.lambda. represents a wavelength, h represents the Planck's
constant, k represents the Boltzmann constant, and c represents the
speed of light.
[0136] If E is integrated over the whole wavelength, the so-called
Stefan-Boltzmann law of:
Esb=.sigma..tau..sup.4,
[0137] where .sigma. represents the Stefan-Boltzmann constant
(2.pi..sup.5.multidot.k.sup.4/15c.sup.3/h.sup.3) is obtained.
[0138] If standardized by the theoretical integrated value
Esb(.tau.K) at .tau.K, a standardized theoretical integrated value
Ek=Esb/Esb(.tau.K) is obtained. Ek is proportional to the fourth
power of the surface temperature.
[0139] As shown in FIG. 8, the standard integrated value Wk
calculated from the actually measured values well conforms with the
standard theoretical integrated value Ek derived from the blackbody
radiation theory, making it possible to estimate the surface
temperature of the film corresponding to the standard integrated
value Wk from the theoretical curve Ek.
[0140] The surface temperature measuring apparatus 210 of the fifth
embodiment described above permits measuring, highly accurately,
the surface temperature of the wafer .omega.c during the film
forming process. Also, the surface temperature can be measured
highly accurately even if the material, construction and thickness
of the wafer .omega.c are changed.
[0141] In the fifth embodiment described above, the whole
wavelength region is integrated. However, the scope of integration
can be limited to a predetermined wavelength range. To be more
specific, the actual radiation spectroscopy is strongly affected by
the sensitivity of the measuring system and the optical properties
of the object. Particularly, in the wavelength region having a low
measuring sensitivity, the radiation spectroscopic intensity is
measured unduly low, compared with the theoretical value, making it
impossible to calculate the surface temperature accurately. Also,
the optical characteristics of the object should also be
considered. For example, a Si wafer exhibits a transmittance of
about 100% in an infrared region having a wavelength exceeding 1
.mu.m, with the result that, if the wafer .omega.c is heated, the
temperature of the heater 211a tends to be erroneously measured as
the surface temperature of the wafer .omega.c.
[0142] In order to avoid the above-noted difficulty, it is possible
to obtain the intensity integrated value by limiting the wavelength
region to the region within which the measurement is not affected
by the sensitivity characteristics of the measuring system and the
optical characteristics of the object so as to calculate the
surface temperature. In other words, the theoretical formula
corresponding to Esb is: Esb=.intg.Ed.lambda. (scope of integration
is .lambda.1.ltoreq..lambda..l- toreq..lambda.2). This indicates
that the temperature can be measured by a method similar to the
method of the first embodiment of the present invention. It follows
that the influences given by the sensitivity characteristics of the
measuring system and the optical characteristics of the object can
be suppressed to a minimum level by limiting the wavelength region
so as to measure the temperature highly accurately.
[0143] FIG. 20 shows the construction of a film forming amount
measuring apparatus 220 according to a sixth embodiment of the
present invention. As shown in the drawing, the film forming amount
measuring apparatus 220 comprises a wafer stage 221 for holding a
wafer (substrate) .omega.c, a lens 222 aligned with the wafer
.omega.c for collecting the light radiated from the wafer .omega.c,
an optical fiber 223 having one end aligned with the lens 222 to
guide the radiated light collected by the lens 222, a spectroscope
224 aligned with the other end of the optical fiber 223 for
subjecting the light having a wavelength falling within a
predetermined range to a spectroscopic analysis for every
wavelength step, an array sensor 225 mounted to the spectroscope
224 for detecting the intensity of the light subjected to the
spectroscopic analysis for every wavelength step so as to generate
an integrated value of the light intensity, a signal processing
circuit 226 receiving the signal generated from the array sensor
225 so as to subject the received signal to an A/D conversion, and
a computer 227 for calculating the intensity distribution of the
radiated light based on the integrated value of the light intensity
supplied from the signal processing circuit 226. A memory section
228 storing a table consisting of plural reference data is
connected to the computer 227. Also, a heater 221a is mounted at a
bottom portion of the wafer stage 221.
[0144] The film forming amount measuring apparatus 220 of the
construction described above measures a film forming amount d on
the wafer .omega.c during a film forming process as follows.
Specifically, the light radiated from the surface of the wafer
.omega.c disposed on the wafer stage 221 and heated by the heater
221a is collected by the lens 222 and, then, guided to the
spectroscope 224 through the optical fiber 223. In the spectroscope
224, the light spectroscopically analyzed for every predetermined
wavelength step is guided to the array sensor 225. In the array
sensor 225, the integrated value of the light intensity of a
predetermined wavelength step width is detected for every sensor.
The integrated value is subjected to an A/D conversion in the
signal processing circuit 226, and the A/D converted signal is
supplied to the computer 227 so as to calculate the radiated light
distribution. The particular operation is carried out immediately
before the film formation and during the film formation.
[0145] FIG. 10 is for explaining the reference radiated light
distribution A.sub.o obtained from the wafer .omega.c immediately
before the film formation and the actually measured radiated light
distribution A obtained from the wafer .omega.c during the film
formation. Specifically, the reference radiated light distribution
A.sub.o is represented by:
A.sub.o(d, t, .lambda.)=T.sub.n-1(T.sub.n-2( . . . T1(Ra(t,
.lambda.)) . . . )
[0146] When the radiated light Ra (t, .lambda.) is transmitted
through the films formed on the wafer .omega.c, i.e., the lowermost
film to (n-1)-th film, the radiated light Ra (t, .lambda.) is
multiply reflected by the films formed on the wafer .omega.c. The
influences given by the multiple reflections are taken into
consideration in the reference radiated light distribution A.sub.o
given above. FIG. 11A shows the reference radiated light
distribution A.sub.o.
[0147] On the other hand, the actually measured radiated light
distribution A is represented by:
A(d, t, .lambda.)=T.sub.n(T.sub.n-1(T1(Ra(t, .lambda.)) . . . )
[0148] In this case, the influences given by the multiple
reflections, which take place when the light Ra (t, .lambda.)
radiated from the wafer .omega.c is transmitted through the films
(the lowermost film to the uppermost film) formed on the wafer
.omega.c, is taken into consideration. FIG. 11B shows the actually
measured radiated light distribution A. Curves .alpha.1, .alpha.2,
and .alpha.3 shown in FIG. 11B represent the actually measured
radiated light distributions at different film forming amounts.
[0149] It should be noted that, in a relative radiated light
distribution B (d, t, .lambda.), which is a ratio of the actually
measured radiated light distribution A (d, t, .lambda.) to the
reference radiated light distribution A.sub.o, i.e., A (d, t,
.lambda.)/A.sub.o (d, t, .lambda.), the influence appears on the
uppermost film (n-th film) alone, as shown in FIG. 12A.
Incidentally, the influences given by the characteristics of the
optical system such as the optical fiber 223 or the spectroscope
224 and by the noise derived from the disturbance are canceled by
the arithmetic operation for conversion into the relative radiated
light distribution B (d, t, .lambda.) so as to improve the
measuring accuracy of the film forming amount d.
[0150] Then, the film forming amount d is calculated by allowing
the relative radiated light distribution B to match a theoretical
radiated light distribution Br. To be more specific, if the
refractive index N (n, k) of the uppermost film (n-th film) is
known, the theoretical radiated light distribution Br (d, t,
.lambda.) showing the influences given by the uppermost film alone
can be calculated from a single layer transmitted light theory in
view of the repetition. Therefore, if the theoretical radiated
light distribution Br is matched with the relative radiated light
distribution B (d, t, .lambda.), it is possible to estimate the
film forming amount d of the uppermost film during the film forming
process. As a matching method, there is a method of detecting the
theoretical radiated light distribution Br (d, t, .lambda.) which
minimizes the absolute value of the difference K between the
relative radiated light distribution B and the theoretical radiated
light distribution amount Br, i.e., K=B (d, t, .lambda.)-Br (d, t,
.lambda.).
[0151] Since the actual splitting of the radiated light is strongly
affected by the sensitivity of the measuring system, the intensity
of the split radiated light tends to be measured unduly low,
compared with the theoretically calculated value, in the wavelength
region of a low measuring sensitivity, making it difficult to
calculate accurately the film forming amount. In this case, it is
possible to estimate the film forming amount from the wavelength
shifting amount of the intensity waveform maximal value by
utilizing the characteristic that the waveform denoting the
intensity of the split radiated light is shifted toward a longer
wavelength side. This method is very effective against the
influences given by, for example, the change in sensitivity of the
measuring apparatus.
[0152] The film forming amount measuring apparatus 220 of the sixth
embodiment described above makes it possible to measure highly
accurately the film forming amount of the uppermost film during
film formation on the wafer .omega.c. Also, the film forming amount
can be measured highly accurately by utilizing the radiated light
even under the condition that the wafer .omega.c is rotated at a
high speed, which is unsuitable for measuring the reflected light.
It should also be noted that, if the film forming amount measuring
apparatus 220 is mounted in a film forming apparatus and the film
formation is stopped when the film forming amount reaches a
predetermined value, the end point of the film formation can be
controlled in the film forming apparatus.
[0153] FIG. 13 shows an essential portion of a film forming amount
measuring apparatus 230 according to a modification of the film
forming amount measuring apparatus 220 shown in FIG. 9. Those
members of the apparatus 230 which are common with the members of
the apparatus shown in FIG. 9 are denoted by the same reference
numerals so as to avoid an overlapping description. The film
forming amount measuring apparatus 230 differs from the apparatus
220 in that the film forming amount is measured at plural measuring
points. Therefore, a lens 231a, an optical fiber 232a, a
spectroscope 233a, and an array sensor 234a are arranged in
parallel with a lens 231b, an optical fiber 232b, a spectroscope
233b, and an array sensor 234b, respectively.
[0154] FIG. 14 shows the construction of a film forming amount
measuring apparatus 240 according to a seventh embodiment of the
present invention. As shown in the drawing, the film forming amount
measuring apparatus 240 comprises a wafer stage 241 for holding a
wafer (substrate) .omega.c, a lens 242 aligned with the wafer
.omega.c for collecting the light radiated from the wafer .omega.c,
an optical fiber 243 having one end positioned to face the lens 242
for guiding the radiated light collected by the lens 242, a
spectroscope 244 positioned to face the other end of the optical
fiber 243 for splitting the light having a wavelength falling
within a predetermined range for every wavelength step, an array
sensor 245 mounted to the spectroscope 244 for detecting the
intensity of the split light for every wavelength step so as to
generate an integrated value of the light intensity, a signal
processing circuit 246 for collecting the signal generated from the
array sensor 245 so as to subject the collected signal to an A/D
conversion, and a computer 247 receiving the output signal of the
signal processing circuit 246 for calculating the intensity
distribution of the radiated light based on the integrated value of
the light intensity. A memory section 248 storing a table
consisting of plural reference data is connected to the computer
247. Incidentally, a heater 241a is mounted at a bottom portion of
the wafer stage 241.
[0155] On the other hand, a half mirror 250 is arranged between the
lens 242 and the optical fiber 243. The half mirror 250 is
irradiated with the light source 252 so as to permit the wafer
stage 241 to be irradiated with the light reflected from the half
mirror 250. Further, a light source lighting circuit 253 is
connected to the light source 252.
[0156] In the film forming amount measuring apparatus 240 of the
construction described above, the film forming amount d on the
wafer .omega.c during the film forming process is measured as
follows. The measurement is performed in advance before the film
formation. Specifically, the light source 252 is turned on so as to
permit the wafer .omega.c to be irradiated with the light radiated
from the light source 252 through the lens 251 and the half mirror
250. The light is reflected from the surface of the wafer .omega.c.
On the other hand, light is radiated from the wafer .omega.c
disposed on the wafer stage 241 and heated by the heater 241a. The
reflected light and radiated light are collected by the lens 242
and guided to the spectroscope 244 through the optical fiber 243.
In the spectroscope 244, the light split for every predetermined
wavelength step is guided to the array sensor 245. In the array
sensor 245, the integrated value of the light intensity of a
predetermined wavelength step width is detected by every sensor.
The integrated value thus detected is subjected to an A/D
conversion in the signal processing circuit 246 and, then, supplied
to the computer 247.
[0157] Obtained in the computer 247 is a first intensity
distribution P1 (d, t, .lambda.) of the split light including both
the reflected light and the radiated light. On the other hand, the
radiated light alone from the wafer .omega.c is similarly measured
by turning off the light source 252 so as to obtain a second
intensity distribution P2 (d, t, .lambda.) of the split light.
[0158] A difference L.sub.o between the first intensity
distribution P1 of the split light and the second intensity
distribution P2 of the split light represents a reference intensity
distribution of the reflected light alone, which is stored in the
memory section 248. Incidentally, the difference L.sub.o is equal
to R.sub.n-1 (R.sub.n-2 ( . . . R1
(S(.lambda.).multidot.J(.lambda.)) . . . )). The formula indicates
that the product between the wavelength distribution S (.lambda.)
of the light source 252 and the influences J (.lambda.) of the
illumination optical system and the light receiving optical system
is modified by the multiple reflection of the light by the films
formed on the wafer .omega.c (i.e., the lowermost film (1) to the
(n-1)-th film).
[0159] Then, the film formation process is started. In this step,
the light source 252 is turned on and the light beams radiated and
reflected from the wafer .omega.c are similarly measured so as to
obtain a third intensity distribution P3 (d, t, .lambda.) of the
split light. Further, the light source 252 is turned off, and the
light beam radiated from the wafer .omega.c is measured similarly
so as to obtain a fourth intensity distribution P4 (d, t, .lambda.)
of the split light.
[0160] A difference L between the third intensity distribution P3
of the split light and the fourth intensity distribution P4 of the
split light represents an actually measured intensity distribution
of the reflected light. The difference L is equal to R.sub.n
(R.sub.n-1 ( . . . R1 (S(.lambda.).multidot.J(.lambda.)) . . . )).
The formula indicates that the product between the wavelength
distribution S (.lambda.) of the light source 252 and the
influences J (.lambda.) of the illumination optical system and the
light receiving optical system is modified by the multiple
reflection of the light by the films formed on the wafer .omega.c
(i.e., the lowermost film (1) to the uppermost film (n)).
[0161] FIG. 16A shows the actually measured intensity distribution
of the reflected light. Curves .beta.1, .beta.2 and .beta.3 shown
in FIG. 16A represent the actually measured wavelength
distributions at different film forming amounts. On the other hand,
FIG. 12A shows a relative intensity distribution F (d, t, .lambda.)
of the reflected light, which is a ratio of the actually measured
intensity distribution L (d, t, .lambda.) of the reflected light to
the reference intensity distribution L.sub.o (d, t, .lambda.) of
the reflected light, i.e., F (d, t, .lambda.)=L (d, t, .lambda.)/
L.sub.o (d, t, .lambda.). The relative intensity distribution F (d,
t, .lambda.) of the reflected light represents the influence given
by the uppermost film (n) alone.
[0162] It should be noted that the influences given by the
characteristics of the optical system such as the optical fiber 243
and the spectroscope 244 and the noise derived from the disturbance
are canceled by the arithmetic operation for conversion into the
relative intensity distribution F (d, t, .lambda.) of the reflected
light, leading to an improved measuring accuracy of the film
forming amount d.
[0163] Then, the film forming amount d is calculated by comparing
the relative intensity distribution F of the reflected light with
reference data (reference intensity distribution of the reflected
light) F.sub.ref. The reference data F.sub.ref denotes the
calculated value obtained by a theoretical calculation of the thin
film interference or the actually measured value in the case where
a film is formed in advance under the same film forming conditions.
In any case, the relationship between the reference data F.sub.ref
and the film forming amount d is quantitatively known.
[0164] The signal F denoting the influence of the uppermost film
(n) alone is dependent on the film forming amount of the uppermost
film which is being laminated. It should be noted that the relative
reflected light distribution F is shifted toward the longer
wavelength side with an increase in the film forming amount.
Therefore, if attention is paid to the maximal value of the
relative reflected light distribution F so as to obtain the
wavelength shift amount thereof, the thickness d of the uppermost
film can be estimated by comparing the wavelength shift amount with
the reference data F.sub.ref. It follows that the film forming
amount of the uppermost film can be measured accurately without
relying on the construction of the underlying film.
[0165] As described above, the film forming amount measuring
apparatus 240 according to the seventh embodiment of the present
invention makes it possible to measure highly accurately the film
forming amount of the uppermost film formed on the wafer .omega.c
during the film forming process on the wafer .omega.c. Also, the
thickness of the uppermost film can be measured easily without
relying on the construction of the underlying film of the wafer
.omega.c. Further, the film thickness can be measured highly
accurately while eliminating the influences given by the
sensitivity characteristics and the optical characteristics of the
object. Incidentally, a film forming apparatus capable of
controlling the end point of the film formation can be provided by
mounting the film forming amount measuring apparatus 240 in the
film forming apparatus to permit the film formation to be stopped
when a predetermined film forming amount is reached.
[0166] FIG. 17 schematically shows a monitoring apparatus 310
according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention. As
shown in the drawing, the monitoring apparatus 310 comprises a
He--Ne laser device 312 for irradiating a semiconductor wafer
.omega.d housed in a film forming chamber 311 with a laser beam
.SIGMA., a pair of CCD cameras 313, 314 for detecting the
diffracted light reflected from the semiconductor wafer .omega.d,
lenses 315, 316 aligned between the semiconductor wafer .omega.d
and each of the CCD cameras 313, 314, and an arithmetic section 317
for performing arithmetic operations based on the output signals
generated from the CCD cameras 313, 314 as described later
herein.
[0167] The pickup faces 313a, 314a of the CCD cameras 313, 314 are
positioned at the focal length f of the lenses 315, 316. Also,
regular fine patterns are formed on the surface of the
semiconductor wafer .omega.d.
[0168] The temperature of the semiconductor wafer .omega.d is
measured by the monitoring apparatus 310 as follows. Specifically,
the semiconductor wafer .omega.d is irradiated with the laser beam
.SIGMA. emitted from the He--Ne laser device 312. The laser beam
.SIGMA. is reflected as a diffracted light .PSI. at an angle
conforming with the distance of the pattern formed on the
semiconductor wafer .omega.d.
[0169] The diffracted light .PSI. is incident on each of the lenses
315, 316 at an angle .eta. so as to be collected and forms spot
images .LAMBDA.1, .LAMBDA.2 on the CCD cameras 313, 314,
respectively. It should be noted that, since the diffracted light
.PSI. is collected by the lenses 315, 316, the positions at which
the spot images .LAMBDA.1, .LAMBDA.2 are formed are deviated by an
amount of f.DELTA..eta. from the focus C of the lenses 313,
314.
[0170] To be more specific, the spot images .LAMBDA.1, .LAMBDA.2 on
the CCD cameras 313, 314 are formed at the positions conforming
with the angle .eta. at which the diffracted light .PSI. is
incident on the lenses 315, 316 regardless of the positions at
which the diffracted light .PSI. is incident on the lenses 315,
316. It follows that the positional deviation caused by the
refraction of the diffracted light .PSI. depending on the thin film
and the ambient temperature is rendered negligible.
[0171] FIGS. 19A to 19C show the positions of the spot images
.LAMBDA.1, .LAMBDA.2 at 300.degree. C., 200.degree. C. and
100.degree. C., respectively. Position signals of these spot images
.LAMBDA.1, .LAMBDA.2 are supplied to the arithmetic section 317.
The distance .delta. between the spot images .LAMBDA.1, .LAMBDA.2
is calculated in the arithmetic section 317 based on these position
signals, and the temperature of the semiconductor wafer .omega.d is
calculated from the distance .delta..
[0172] It should also be noted that the intensity of the diffracted
light .PSI. is changed to depict a sine wave in accordance with
changes in the thickness of the film formed on the semiconductor
wafer .omega.d. Therefore, the thickness of the film formed on the
wafer .omega.d can also be measured simultaneously by measuring the
intensity of the spot images formed on the CCD cameras 313,
314.
[0173] FIGS. 20A and 20B cover the case where the object of the
semiconductor wafer .omega.d is tilted. If the semiconductor wafer
.omega.d is tilted, the positions of the spot images .LAMBDA.1,
.LAMBDA.2 are deviated. However, the two sensors are similarly
affected by this inclination, with the result that the distance
.delta. between the spot images .LAMBDA.1, .LAMBDA.2 is left
unchanged so as to cancel the tilt of the semiconductor wafer
.omega.d. It follows that the temperature can be measured
accurately.
[0174] As described above, in the monitoring apparatus 310 of the
eighth embodiment, the diffracted light .PSI. is collected to form
spot images .LAMBDA.1, .LAMBDA.2 on the pickup faces of the CCD
cameras 313, 314 in accordance with the incident angle at the
lenses 315, 316. Also, the influences given by the thickness of the
film formed on the semiconductor wafer .omega.d and by the change
in the ambient temperature are canceled by measuring the distance
between these spot images .LAMBDA.1, .LAMBDA.2 so as to decrease
the measuring error. It follows that the temperature of the wafer
and the thickness of the film formed on the wafer can be measured
without being affected by the refraction dependent on the film
thickness and the ambient temperature.
[0175] FIG. 21 shows the construction of a temperature measuring
apparatus 410 according to a ninth embodiment of the present
invention. As shown in the drawing, the temperature measuring
apparatus 410 comprises a detecting section 420, an arithmetic
section 430 and a correcting section 440.
[0176] The detecting section 420 consists of a laser oscillator 421
for oscillating, for example, a He--Ne laser beam for irradiating a
wafer .omega.e, a prism (optical system for determining position)
422 for shifting an optical path for moving the laser beam in
parallel, a driving mechanism 423 such as a pulse motor for
rotating the prism 422 in two directions, a CCD camera (light
detecting section) 424 for observing interference fringes, and two
lenses (optical system for correcting changes) 425, 426 for guiding
the interference fringes into the CCD camera 424. The CCD camera
424 and the lenses 425, 426 are integrally incorporated in an
optical cylinder 427 having a black light absorber mounted to the
inner surface thereof.
[0177] The prism 422 is rotated to permit the laser beam L to be
shifted in parallel so as to move the irradiating point from M1 to
M2, as denoted by, for example, a broken line Q in FIG. 21.
Therefore, the temperature can be measured at many points on the
wafer .omega.e. Incidentally, the CCD camera 424 includes a light
receiving face 424a, as shown in FIG. 22A. Also, a filter 424b
capable of transmitting the light having a wavelength equal to that
of the laser beam L is arranged in front of the light receiving
face 424a of the CCD camera 424.
[0178] On the other hand, the lenses 425, 426 perform the function
as described in the following. Specifically, the lenses 425, 426
permit the interference fringes to be kept incident on the
stationary CCD camera 424 even if the measuring point is changed.
For example, in the case of using a lens having a focal length of
100 mm, the interference fringes incident on the lens 425 are kept
incident on a predetermined point of the CCD camera 424 by the
arrangement shown in FIG. 21, in which the distance between the
irradiating point on the wafer .omega.e and the lens 425 is 200 mm,
the distance between the two lenses 425 and 426 is 300 mm, and the
distance between the lens 426 and the CCD camera 424 is 200 mm. It
should be noted that a solid line B shown in FIG. 21 represents the
interference fringes when the wafer we is irradiated with the laser
beam L at the irradiating point M1. Also, a broken line S
represents the interference fringes when the wafer .omega.e is
irradiated with the laser beam Q at the irradiating point M2.
[0179] The arithmetic section 430 consists of a PM driver 431 for
driving a pulse motor 423, a P1/O-1/F 432 for transmitting a
command signal to the PM driver 431, an image processing I/F 433
for receiving the picture image caught by the CCD camera 424 and
for displaying the received picture image on a display 435, which
is referred to later, a CPU 434 for collectively controlling the
image processing operation, the arithmetic operation, etc., and the
display 435 for displaying the picture image.
[0180] Further, the correcting section 440 includes a CCD camera
441, an image processing board 442 for processing the image signal
generated from the CCD camera 441, and a beam diameter controller
443.
[0181] The surface temperature of the wafer .omega.e is measured by
the temperature measuring apparatus 410 of the construction
described above as follows. Specifically, a pair of concave
portions P1, P2 of the concave and convex pattern P on the surface
of the wafer .omega.e are irradiated with the laser beam L emitted
from the laser oscillator 421, as shown in FIG. 22. Incidentally,
FIG. 22 schematically shows the phenomenon taking place when the
laser beam L is incident on the concave and convex pattern P within
an optional range. As shown in FIG. 22, diffracted light beams K1,
K2 are generated from the concave portions P1, P2 so as to form
interference fringes B at the intersection between the diffracted
light beams K1 and K2. The interference fringes B thus formed are
caught by the CCD camera 424 so as to obtain an image of the
interference fringes within the range of the light receiving face
424a.
[0182] FIG. 22B shows an image of the interference fringes obtained
by detecting the interference fringes B with the CCD camera 424
when the pattern P is irradiated with the laser beam L. In this
example, the concave portions P1, P2 are oblong and, thus, the
images of the interference fringes are rendered oblong. This is
caused by the phenomenon that the diffracted light beams K1, K2 are
expanded in inverse proportion to the lengths of the concave
portions P1, P2. Therefore, the interference fringes B are expanded
in the direction of the shorter side (X-direction), as shown in the
drawing.
[0183] Let us describe the relationship between the interference
fringes B and the temperature of the wafer .omega.e. If the wafer
heated, the substance forming the wafer .omega.e is expanded so as
to increase the distance between the adjacent patterns P, as shown
in, for example, FIG. 23. As a result, the initial cross point N1
is moved to a point N2 positioned away from the wafer .omega.e, as
shown in FIG. 23. Therefore, where the CCD camera 424 is
stationary, a special behavior is observed as if the interference
fringes B approach the CCD camera 424. It follows that the number
of interference fringes B incident on the CCD camera 424 is
increased so as to cause the distance between the adjacent fringes
of the picture image of the interference fringes on the CCD camera
424 to be narrowed. In other words, the temperature change of the
wafer .omega.e is correlated with the reduction in the distance
between adjacent fringes of the interference fringes B, making it
possible to obtain the change in temperature by detecting the
change in the distance between adjacent fringes of the interference
fringes B.
[0184] Incidentally, if the pitch of the pattern P and the
wavelength of the laser beam L at a certain temperature are known,
the distance between adjacent fringes of the interference fringes B
can be calculated from the distance between the wafer .omega.e and
the CCD camera 424, making it possible to identify the absolute
value of the wafer temperature.
[0185] There now follows a description of how to calculate the
distance between adjacent fringes of the interference fringes B.
FIG. 24A is a graph showing the light intensity distribution in an
X-direction of the picture image of the interference fringes B. In
this graph, the number of picture elements in an X-direction of the
CCD camera 424 is set at 512, and the light intensities in a
Y-direction are added for each picture element in the X-direction.
As shown in the drawing, the light intensity distribution in a
planar direction forms a sine wave, and the distance between
adjacent maximal values corresponds to the distance between
adjacent fringes of the interference fringes B. It is certainly
possible to obtain the change in temperature by simply calculating
the change in the distance between adjacent maximal values. In this
case, however, the resolution is dependent on the pitch of the
picture elements of the CCD camera 424.
[0186] For improving the accuracy of the calculation, the change in
frequency of the sine wave is calculated. To be more specific, the
change in frequency is inversely proportional to the change in the
distance between adjacent fringes and, thus, the temperature is
proportional to the frequency. In other words, the frequency is
increased with increase in the temperature. FIG. 24B shows that the
frequency is calculated to be, for example, 16.64179 Hz by the
maximum entropy method (MEM), which is an example of the frequency
analysis.
[0187] The movement of the measuring point accompanying the change
in temperature is corrected in the present invention. Specifically,
FIGS. 25 and 26 show the difference in behavior between two picture
images of the interference fringes. FIG. 25A shows the positional
relationship among the measuring point, the lenses 425, 426, and
the CCD camera 424. FIG. 25B shows in a magnified fashion the
measuring point. Further, FIG. 25C shows the light intensity
distribution of a picture image detected for measuring the
temperature. The letter d in FIG. 25B denotes the distance between
the concave portions P1, P2, and .DELTA.d represents the amount of
change in the distance d caused by the temperature change. On the
other hand, FIG. 26A shows the positional relationship between the
measuring point accompanying the temperature change and the CCD
camera 441. Also, FIG. 26B shows the light intensity distribution
of a picture image for detecting the moving amount. The symbol
.DELTA.D shown in FIG. 26B denotes the amount of movement of the
light intensity distribution. Further, FIGS. 27A and 27B show the
interference fringes B and S obtained by the CCD cameras 424 and
441, respectively.
[0188] As apparent from FIG. 25C, the interference fringes B and S
detected by the CCD camera 424 are caused to be incident in
predetermined positions by the lenses 425, 426 even if the wafer
.omega.e is expanded by the temperature heating so as to move the
measuring point.
[0189] On the other hand, FIG. 26B shows that the light intensity
distribution is moved by an amount of .DELTA.D, which is close to
the actual moving amount, in the case of the picture image for
detecting the moving amount. FIG. 28 shows the principle for
obtaining the moving amount from the light intensity distribution.
Specifically, for improving the accuracy, changes in plural maximal
values are calculated to obtain an average value in analyzing the
changes in the positions of the maximal values before and after the
movement. The true moving amount can be obtained by comparing the
data of the moving amount thus obtained with known data, followed
by correcting the resultant error.
[0190] There now follows a description of how to correct the error
caused by the beam diameter of the laser beam L. Specifically, the
laser beam itself exhibits an intensity distribution, as shown in
FIG. 29, with the result that an error is generated if the
measuring point is moved only slightly, even if the laser is
stationary. Therefore, the error is less likely to be affected by
the movement of the measuring point if the intensity distribution
of the laser beam is flat, i.e., with increase in the beam
diameter. The error caused by the slight movement can be corrected
by detecting the moving amount.
[0191] There now follows a description of how to correct the lens
aberration of the lenses 425, 426. As described previously, the
incident point of the interference fringes S is not changed by the
lenses 425, 426, making it unnecessary to adjust the position of
the CCD camera 424. However, since the interference fringes S pass
through the outer peripheral portions of the lenses 425, 426, the
picture image of the interference fringes S is distorted under the
influences of the lens aberration. FIG. 30 is a graph showing the
relationship between the measuring error caused by the lens
aberration and the moving amount (measuring position).
Incidentally, the moving amount zero (0) on the abscissa of the
graph denotes the case where the interference fringes pass through
the center of the lens, i.e., interference fringes B.
[0192] The error is defined to be an error from the frequency in
the central position of the lens by the result of calculation of
the frequency under the condition of a constant temperature. The
particular relationship remains unchanged unless a lens having
different characteristics is substituted. Therefore, the error can
be corrected if the quantitative characteristics of the particular
relationship are used as a known value.
[0193] As shown in FIG. 30, even a slight moving amount leads to a
large error under the influence of the lens aberration if the
position before the movement is on the outer circumferential region
of the lens. Therefore, a distortion .epsilon. is corrected as
follows.
[0194] Specifically, the actually measured frequency and the error
at the position before the movement are set at f1 and
.DELTA..epsilon.1, respectively. Likewise, the actually measured
frequency and the error at the position after the movement are set
at f2 and .DELTA..epsilon.2, respectively. In this case, the
frequency f0 before the movement and the frequency f0' after the
movement are represented by formulas given below:
f0=f1.times.{100/(.DELTA..epsilon.1+100)} (1)
f0'=f2.times.{100/(.DELTA..epsilon.2+100)} (2)
[0195] Therefore, the distortion .epsilon. is represented by:
.epsilon.=(f0'-f0)/f0 (3)
[0196] As described above, the temperature measuring apparatus 410
according to the ninth embodiment of the present invention makes it
possible to measure the surface temperature of a wafer during the
film forming process highly accurately in a non-contact manner by
utilizing a concave and convex pattern such as an L/S pattern
having the highest probability of presence in each step of a
manufacturing process of a semiconductor device. Therefore, a
special pattern need not be formed, and the temperature can be
measured highly accurately.
[0197] Also, the distance between adjacent fringes of the
interference fringes is calculated by the frequency analysis,
making it possible to perform the temperature measurement highly
accurately regardless of the resolution of the CCD camera 424.
Further, the frequency analysis of the sine wave is performed by
using the maximum entropy method, leading to a measurement of a
higher accuracy.
[0198] On the other hand, the lenses 425, 426 are used for allowing
the interference fringes to be incident on the CCD camera 424 at a
predetermined position, making it unnecessary to enlarge or move
the CCD camera 424. It should also be noted that the lenses 425,
426 and the CCD camera 424 are integrally arranged within the
optical cylinder 427. Therefore, it is possible to ensure a
rigidity, to improve the measuring accuracy and to prevent
intrusion of the disturbing light. Further, since the inner surface
of the optical cylinder 427 is coated with a light absorbing
material, it is possible to prevent the irregular reflection of
light within the optical cylinder 427.
[0199] Further, the aberration of the lenses 425, 426 can be
corrected by detecting the moving amount of the interference
fringes, leading to the temperature measurement of a further
improved accuracy.
[0200] Further, the irradiating position of the laser beam L can be
changed by using the prism 422 so as to make it possible to measure
the temperature at plural positions of the wafer. It follows that
it is possible to measure the average temperature of the wafer
.omega.e.
[0201] Still further, since the beam diameter adjuster 443 is
mounted, it is possible to select the beam diameter adapted for the
temperature measurement.
[0202] The present invention is not limited to the embodiment
described above. For example, in the embodiment described above, a
CCD camera is used in the light detecting section. However, it is
also possible to use a line sensor or an area sensor prepared by
arranging plural line sensors. Of course, the present invention can
be worked in variously modified fashions within the technical scope
of the present invention.
[0203] FIG. 31 shows a CVD apparatus (process apparatus) 510
including a film thickness measuring apparatus according to a tenth
embodiment of the present invention.
[0204] The CVD apparatus 510 includes a film forming section 520
and a film thickness measuring section 530. A semiconductor wafer
.epsilon.f is used as a substrate in the CVD apparatus 510.
[0205] The film forming section 520 includes a chamber 521 housing
the semiconductor wafer .epsilon.f, a rotating mechanism 522 for
rotating the semiconductor wafer .epsilon.f housed in the chamber
521 in a direction denoted by an arrow r in FIG. 31, and a process
section 523 in which a predetermined treatment is applied to the
semiconductor wafer .epsilon.f. As shown in the drawing, a view
port 521a is formed in the upper surface of the chamber 521.
[0206] The film thickness measuring section 530 includes a lens 531
for collecting the light R radiated from the semiconductor wafer
.epsilon.f through the view port 521a, an optical fiber 532 having
one end positioned to face the lens 531 for guiding the radiated
light R, a spectroscope 533 aligned with the other end of the
optical fiber 532, a measuring section 534 for measuring the
intensity of the light split from the radiated light R by the
spectroscope 533, a memory section 540 connected to the measuring
section 534 and storing various data referred to later, an
arithmetic section 550 connected to the measuring section 534 and
the memory section 540 for performing arithmetic operations
referred to later, and a control section 560 connected to the
arithmetic section 540 for controlling the film forming section 520
based on the arithmetic operations performed in the arithmetic
section 550.
[0207] The memory section 540 includes a reference waveform memory
section 541 for storing a waveform .epsilon.1 (waveform of light
radiated from a reference sample) of the light split from the light
radiated from the wafer .omega.f (reference wafer) before formation
of the underlying film, a first memory section 542 storing a first
data base representing the relationship between a peak wavelength
and the thickness of the underlying film, said peak wavelength
being obtained by dividing a waveform (waveform of light radiated
from a measured sample) .omega.2 of the light radiated from the
wafer .omega.f (measured wafer) after formation of the underlying
film by the waveform .omega.1 of the light radiated from the
reference sample, and a second memory section 543 storing a second
data base representing the relationship between a peak wavelength
and the thickness of the uppermost film, said peak wavelength being
obtained by dividing a waveform .omega.3 of the process radiation
for every thickness of the underlying film by the waveform .omega.2
of the measured sample radiation. It should be noted that the term
"data base" noted above represents a graph or formula showing the
relationship between the peak wave length and the film thickness.
Also, "waveform" denotes a graph showing the relationship between
the intensity and the wavelength.
[0208] The arithmetic section 550 includes a first arithmetic
section 551 for calculating the thickness of the underlying film of
the wafer of before the film formation thereon on the basis of the
measured sample radiation waveform .omega.2 obtained in the
measuring section 534 and the first data base stored in the first
memory section 542, and a second arithmetic section 552 for
calculating the peak wavelength obtained by dividing the process
radiation waveform .omega.3 obtained in the measuring section 534
by the measured sample radiation waveform .omega.2, said
calculation being performed on the basis of the data base stored in
the second memory section 537.
[0209] In the CVD apparatus 510 of the construction described
above, the thickness of the uppermost film is measured and the film
formation is continued until the thickness of the film reaches a
predetermined value as follows. It should be noted that the
reference sample radiation waveform .omega.1 is stored in advance
in the reference waveform memory section 541. Also, the first data
base (see FIG. 32) and the second data base (see FIG. 33) are also
stored in advance in the first memory section 542 and the second
memory section 543, respectively.
[0210] FIG. 32 is a graph showing the relationship between a peak
wavelength and the thickness of an underlying film, covering the
case where the underlying film of TEOS (tetraethyl ortho-silicate)
is formed in a thickness of 4000 to 6000 .ANG. on the semiconductor
wafer .omega.f, said peak wavelength being obtained by dividing the
split radiation waveform before formation of the underlying film.
On the other hand, FIG. 33 is a graph showing the relationship
between a peak wavelength and the thickness of an underlying film,
covering the case where the uppermost poly-Si film is formed in a
thickness of 5000 .ANG. on the semiconductor wafer .omega.f having
the underlying film formed thereon in advance, said peak wavelength
being obtained by dividing the process radiation waveform .omega.3
by the measured sample waveform .omega.2.
[0211] FIG. 34 is a flow chart showing the procedure of actually
forming a film. This example covers the case where a poly-Si
uppermost film is formed in a thickness of 5000 .ANG. on the
underlying film.
[0212] In the first step, a radiation waveform is measured under
the condition that an underlying film alone is formed on the
semiconductor wafer .omega.f so as to obtain a measured sample
radiation waveform .omega.2 (ST1). Then, a reference sample
radiation waveform .omega.1 is read out of the reference waveform
memory section 541 to have the measured sample radiation waveform
.omega.2 divided by the reference sample radiation waveform
.omega.2 (ST2) so as to obtain a peak wavelength (ST3).
[0213] Then, the first data base is read out of the first memory
section 542 so as to calculate the thickness of the underlying film
corresponding to the peak wavelength (ST4). Further, the second
data base is read out of the second memory section 543 so as to
obtain the peak wavelength at the time when the poly-Si uppermost
film is formed in a thickness of 5000 .ANG. based on the thickness
of the underlying film calculated in step ST4 (ST5). The peak
wavelength thus obtained is transmitted to the control section
560.
[0214] On the other hand, a film is formed on the semiconductor
wafer .omega.f in the film forming section 520, and the process
radiation waveform .omega.3 during the film formation is
continuously measured in the film thickness measuring section 530
(ST6). The process waveform .omega.3 thus obtained is divided by
the measured sample radiation waveform .omega.2 (ST6) so as to
obtain a peak wavelength (ST8). When the peak wavelength thus
obtained coincides with the peak wavelength obtained in step ST5,
the operation proceeds to step ST9. When the peak wavelength does
not coincide with the peak wavelength obtained in step ST5, the
operation is brought back to step ST6. In step ST9, a command
signal to stop the film formation is supplied from the control
section 560 to the film forming section 520.
[0215] For example, where the peak wavelength obtained in step ST4
is 725 nm, the operator understands that the thickness of the
underlying film is 5000 .ANG.. This indicates that it suffices to
stop the film formation at the peak wavelength of 675 nm in step
ST5 in the case of forming a poly-Si film in a thickness of 5000
.ANG..
[0216] Also, where the peak wavelength obtained in step ST4 is 708
nm, the operator understands that the thickness of the underlying
film is 4500 .ANG.. This indicates that it suffices to stop the
film formation at the peak wavelength of 648 nm in step ST5 in the
case of forming a poly-Si film in a thickness of 5000 .ANG..
[0217] As described above, in the CVD apparatus 510 according to
the tenth embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of the
uppermost film during the film formation is measured in accordance
with the thickness of the underlying film, making it possible to
measure accurately the film thickness without being affected by the
difference in thickness of the underlying film. It follows that
formation of the uppermost film can be stopped at a target
thickness of the film with a high accuracy.
[0218] The present invention is not limited to the tenth embodiment
described above. For example, the tenth embodiment is directed to a
CVD apparatus as a process apparatus. However, the technical idea
of the tenth embodiment can also be applied to an etching
apparatus. Also, a radiated light is utilized in the tenth
embodiment. However, it is also possible to irradiate the wafer
with light so as to utilize the light reflected from the wafer.
Needless to say, the present invention can be worked in variously
modified fashions within the technical scope of the present
invention.
[0219] Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur
to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its
broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and
representative embodiments shown and described herein. Accordingly,
various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit
or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the
appended claims and their equivalents.
* * * * *